


A Long Journey

by Lireltree



Category: Claymore (Anime & Manga), Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Human Experimentation, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Consensual Touching, Read the tags!, Refugees, Reunions, Tags May Change, Underage Non-Con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-05-20 03:23:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14886710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lireltree/pseuds/Lireltree
Summary: Noctis has been captured by Niflheim after the Marilith attack. Now, he's trapped in the labs as the subject of a new project. He's terrified, injured and running out of time.Uma should have died after a botched Awakened being extermination. Instead, she finds herself a prisoner of an unknown kingdom that speaks a foreign language, possesses an endless number of ruthless armored soldiers and uses its own civilians as experimental resources. Given a choice to bring down an empire that represents everything she despises, her decision is clear.So begins a journey to bring a child back home in the midst of a war.





	1. In the clutches of the Empire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two doomed souls find themselves prisoners of the Empire, of different standing.

“Valencia! Cover me!” Uma called as she blocked a rapid onslaught of projectiles from the awakened being, following up with a cut to the creature’s limb.

 Only then did she steal a glimpse of her juniors. The five other warriors were lying down in pools of blood. Alive, but in no condition to fight.

Shit.

It was a miscalculation. They had thought with one of the Ghosts and a number 3, Audrey, on their team of six, it would be sufficient to clear out one of the remaining labs that housed awakened beings. They didn't considered the possibility of meeting a former number 10.

Only Uma was skilful enough to control her yoki flow to disrupt the amplified anti-warrior abilities of the awakened being. The others were of the latest generation of warriors, with much less experience on the battlegrounds as she had.

“I guess the excuse of being the weakest among the Ghosts isn’t going to work!” Gritting her teeth to prevent them from chattering, she made a leap into the awakened being’s range of attack.The giant creature gave an inhuman shriek. Twisting the hilt of the blade buried in its eye, she gave her bravest roar, “See me now? You’d better come after me!”.

Another wave of dizziness swept over her as the awakened attempted to manipulate her yoki once again. Releasing another burst of her yoki to counter it, she withdrew her claymore and stabbed. This time, it bit deeply into the base of it’s head. Success.

With a practiced vault, she was now dragging down the sword as it cut its way down through it’s back. As the creature gave it’s dying scream, Uma wondered why she wasn’t hitting the ground yet.

Another miscalculation.

She fell with the dying awakened into the chasm of the frozen Northern mountains.

* * *

The sound of screaming woke her.

Uma stayed frozen for a moment. Sensations came back to her as she began to process her surroundings.

She laid on a floor. Sounds of terror and yelling resounded through the dilapidated building she found herself in. A sharp, staccato sound caused her to wince. It sounded like nothing she heard before.

The door in front of her crashed open. The sudden light blinds the warrior and she rolled into position and tried to grab her claymore upon hearing heavy footfalls resounding on the floorboards. Her sword wasn't there. A blink cleared her blindness and she found herself surrounded by a circle of four guards aiming strange black contraptions at her.

For a moment, she thought they were Rabona soldiers: the only military in the Continent who wore a full suit of metal armour. However, they did not wear metal facsimile masks of a human face, nor was the armour a mix of black, silver and green.

One proceeded to prod her with the end of its contraption. Uma eyed the unfamiliar weapon, unsure of it’s use. It’s pointed at her head, so she decided to follow its lead

For now.

The four soldiers herded her out of the building. A man, a villager by his attire, struggled against another identical soldier. A flash burst out of the end of the armoured man’s black contraption, accompanied by the unfamiliar sound. Uma gasped as blood sprayed from the body of the civilian.

 The armoured soldier does not spare a glance, marching away in the direction the others are herding her to.

Uma felt a wave of nausea roll over her. This shared too much similarity with the Northern Campaign. Where awakened beings were replaced with human soldiers.

She didn’t know if she could kill a human. She didn’t have the steel in her like the others did.

The formation of four lead her past more burning houses, gigantic contraptions, before stopping in unison. The one behind her shoves her forward into a crowd of gathered villagers. They squeeze each other in an attempt to stay as far from the armoured soldiers as possible.

She’s only managed to sweep a glance across the huddled crowd and armored figures in the perimeter before an inhumanly loud sound made her jump once again. It took her minutes to realize it is a man’s voice, confident and grating, that doled out a long victory speech in a language she cannot understand.

Nothing was adding up.

Where was she?

What was happening here?

How was she still alive?

* * *

  _He is flung against Miss Hortis as the driver makes a desperate manoeuvre to put as much distance between the vehicle and the serpent lady demon as much as possible. It does not save him from a glimpse of the car belonging to his father’s Crownsguards being cleaved by the demon’s sword._

_The demon is next to the car in the next instant, one of its many swords cutting down from the roof, onto Miss Hortis and—._

Noctis woke up with a scream.

“Ah, our honoured guest awakes,” the nasal voice of an old man sounded from his left as a figure turned and approached. Noctis attempted to move his hand, but it doesn’t.

The eight-year-old looked down to see his wrists bound by thick iron cuffs connected to the surface he’s on. He tried to move his legs—but white-hot pain from his back stopped him from doing so.

 Noctis couldn’t stop a pained whimper from escaping him. The old man barely paid attention to it and roved a critical eye over his exposed form.

“It seems Lucian royals pamper their brats too much. Of course, I can’t have a prime resource expire early because of a spinal injury—it’ll have to be stabilized,” the elder spoke dismissively. “On another note, His Radiance, Emperor Iedolas Aldercapt has expressed his regret at being unable to grace you with his presence. He is busy with matters of war.”

“Still, our Emperor has recognized that the discovery of the secret to Lucian magic is a top priority for the Empire. Therefore, my experiments are to start immediately…” the wizened man drags out the last word, watching Noctis's face morph into a look of terror. “Don’t worry, boy. I, Verstael Besithia, shall not let you go to waste.”.

* * *

Two weeks pass.

Uma walked in a line of other captured civilians toward the half-constructed railway bridge, solid wooden planks on her and her partner’s shoulders. Workers sweated despite the chilly weather, too fearful of giving the surrounding armoured soldiers reason to forcefully make them move.

Her partner spoke a word she has long since recognized as a signal for putting down the construction material. She made a show of shifting the heavy burden. Once her partner, a sinewy, middle-aged man communicated his approval, she lets it rest on the ground.

The sound of a siren pierces the air: it was time to end work. Uma files in as one of the faceless workers and allowed herself to be packed into a cramped land vehicle with others and of course—their masked, armoured watchers.

Everything Uma has gathered over the last fourteen days formed the outline of an unsettling picture of the land she found herself in. She and the other civilians found themselves transported by rattling contraptions they call trucks, while the armoured guards and a few other humans she witnessed, presumably nobility, travelled around in sleek black levitating ships. Her fellow workers were confined in fenced-off courtyards and barred cells , while a few lavishly-dressed individuals were given free-reign within the facility and were able to travel to and from the gigantic, glowing city rising in the distance.

 It was clear. They were prisoners, if not, then slaves.

Not too different from how the Organization ran things, Uma noted. Just with a smaller piece of land.

Despite knowing she could bring down any human or wall with brute strength alone, she needed more information to work with before she made her move.

_I’ve been dropped to another world_ , Uma snorted as the thought crossed her mind. It still sounded as equally ridiculous as it did when it repeated non-stop in her head during the first few days she found herself here. No, the only logical explanation for this was that she had somehow been transported to the Mainland.

Though she had yet to detect any yoki that should have emanated from the half-human half-yoma warriors that the Organization and its affiliates deployed in the mainland, the might of the military of this country she found herself in would fit the bill of the “unstoppable army” that the Organization had been desperately developing uncontrollable weapons against.

Still, there was something that needed an explanation. She had fought the awakened former number 10 in the mountains in the Northern Continent, fell off the cliff, then found herself alive in the midst of a village being raided by an army. However, it wouldn’t be too unrealistic if she had been found half-dead somewhere lower at the mountain by the remaining groups of slave traders that still operated in the Northern Region.

Afterwards, they could have transported her to the mainland, but the town was raided before she could be transported further. Records in the Organization’s facilities had detailed exports of humans to the Mainland between the Organization and slave traders. Now that the Organization fell and the slave traders lost a significant source of their income, they could have allied themselves with the opposing country, desperate to find a silver-eyed warrior for the enemy nation to dissect for gold.

In the end…it was all still speculation.

Uma slammed a fist into the metal, not caring whether it attracted the attention of the armoured soldier, and buried her face into her knees.

If Miria was here, she would always have a solid plan. If Cynthia was here, her optimism and kind words would have made her braver. If Clare was here, she wouldn’t give much encouragement, but Uma knew she would always have her back.

“I can’t do this alone…” she whispered, eyes damp with moisture.

She was the weakest among the survivors of her own generation of warriors, and her strength was never enough.

* * *

During the times when the dark clouds of criticism and depression left her, she was busy trying to learn how to communicate with the other prisoners.

With her blonde hair and fair complexion, all the other fellow inmates thought her as one of their own countrymen, despite her silver eyes. Based on the pitying looks they gave, they must have assumed her to be a poor village fool that had survived the raid.

 With many repetitions of a few words she understood, drawing and highly emotional gesturing, the imprisoned people imparted to her the country’s history and information about the land.

‘It didn’t use to be like this’ an elder, with hands worn from labour and eyes filled with anger and sadness repeated under his breath, unable to say anything else.

‘We are farmers, miners. We didn’t do anything wrong,’ another, a woman in her thirties managed to explain to her. ‘This is happening to all the small towns and villages in this land. Our army and our rulers are destroying our homes and imprisoning all of us. Why, we don’t know’.

‘These raids only happened after the war started,’ a young man who she had asked replied furiously. ‘They are going throw us in hordes to fight their enemies, so the nobility and Emperor don’t have to bleed a drop of blood while they pick them off.’.

Uma asked him who were the emperor’s enemies.

The young man barked a broken laugh. ‘Lucis. They are the only ones who can defend themselves because they have magic from the gods.’.

She didn’t know what to make of the supposed magic from the gods. It might be a reference to the super strength and speed a half-human half-yoma warrior possessed.

‘No,’ the young man seemed weary from the effort of explaining things that a denizen of their country should have known. ‘It’s the magic that calls down firestorms and lightning. Only the Emperor has an army of metal soldiers with superhuman strength.’.

* * *

At the end of every week, armored soldiers accompanied a well-dressed human and collected several prisoners from their cells.

As the days went by, it was clear that the taken prisoners were not coming back.

It made Uma remember the long period of waiting in fear in a holding chamber with other orphaned girls. She had watched men dressed in black taking other girls out one-by-one, until her turn.

Afterwards, her body was cut open, alien flesh inserted into her to replace the parts they cut out.

The revelation turned her stomach. The only reason nothing had been thrown up while she retched was because there wasn’t enough food in her.

After a night of fitful rest, she began making plans to escape. Her time, and the time of the other wrongly imprisoned, was limited.

At the end of the fourth week, the armored soldiers stopped in front of the cell containing her and a number of other prisoners. Uma held her breath.

The well-dressed man was pointing at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is my attempt at my first fic, which happens to be a crossover au for a captured Noct au. It's an idea I've been toying after reading Good for Something At Least by Walmart au. I'm a sucker for fix-its and because I can't stomach the possibilites if Noctis actually got captured by the empire...
> 
> I'll be posting some explanation for terminologies from the Claymore universe at the bottom of the chapters for those who aren't familiar with it. If I miss out something, feel free to comment and I'll add it in. As this is more focused on the events of FF15, I'll post explanations for the FF15 if someone requests it.
> 
> Claymore: They refer to the half-human half-yoma hybrid warriors of the Organization. They are named after the greatswords they wield by the general population. Amongst themselves, they refer to one another as 'warriors'. They have heightened physical strength, speed, durability and regeneration as well as the ability to detect the Yoma and other Claymores by detecting their yoki (Monster energy). They can increase their strength, speed and regeneration by releasing their yoki, though it makes them easily detected by other Yoma and Claymores. However, if they release their yoki beyond their limit, they turn into Awakened Beings (which are typically monsters with much greater strength, speed and regenerative abilities than Claymores and Yoma) Claymores are created by inserting Yoma flesh and blood into the bodies of young girls, bleaching their hair and turning their eyes silver. They also retain their appearance of their 20s no matter how they age. However, most of the girls die after the procedure, and many also die during training as a warrior. They are a stigmatized group and regularly die fighting yoma and awakened beings, while being shunned (Or abused, as the Organization enforces a rule that they cannot retaliate against humans) by the populace.
> 
> Yoma: Beings that feed on human flesh and blood. They can shape-shift into human form that allows them to live among humans.They too have strength and speed beyond humans and can regenerate damaged bodies at incredible speeds.They are created by combining the flesh of both a humanoid and an "Awakened" Asarakam (A creature mentioned in the manga), which forms a parasite with transfigurative abilities that is capable of infecting the brains of unsuspecting human hosts. 
> 
> Awakened Beings: They came from Claymores who have released their yoki beyond their limit, and have greater appetite for humans than yoma, eating many at a time. They do have sentiency, but are generally apathetic towards humans a see them as nothing more than food. 
> 
> the Organization: On the surface, it is the unnamed group that creates and commands the Claymores and carries out yoma extermination for a fee. They dispatch a Claymore when they receive a request for yoma extermination. After the yoma is taken care of, the Claymore's handler, a 'man in black', will collect the fee (Which is usually so large that most villages and towns can't afford to pay it). Any young female orphans left behind from the Yoma attacks are taken to the Organization to become a Claymore. In actuality, the Island World of Claymore (AKA the continent) is a research lab for creation of controllable Awakened Beings, belonging to a nation that is fighting a losing war against a stronger country. Hence they hope to weaponize the Awakened Beings in order to turn the tide of the war. In order to keep things running, they create Yoma and take in any orphans they can, Orphaned boys are sent to other facilities where they are turned into Yoma. They kill off Claymores that have inklings of their sinister motives, hence their long-lasting control over the continent.
> 
> the Seven Ghosts: A group of 7 Claymores that have survived the suicide mission known as The Northern Campaign. The members include Uma, who is a main character in this fic. They've stayed hidden for 7 years in the mountains of the Northern Continent after the failed mission, avoiding detection from the Organization. Their leader, Miria, has long since discovered the Organization's true motives and leads the group to bring down the Organization's control over the continent. They generally have more experience and better physical ability than the Claymores employed in the Organization and all of them have the capability to take down an Awakened Being alone. Uma is the least impressive among this group, but her abilities still exceed that of most of the Claymores.
> 
> Aaaannnd that's it for the notes! 
> 
> For those that are wondering why I use 'Uma' instead of 'Yuma', Yuma's name was originally translated as Uma and it stuck in my head. Besides, several of its meanings are 'to shine' or 'life'. As FF15 has a lot of references to light and darkness, so 'Uma' fits more than Yuma in this context.(In this writer's opinion, cough)
> 
> Thanks for reading this. Comments and kudos are appreciated!


	2. An escape favoured by the Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TO ALL WHO SKIPS SUMMARIES PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STOP & READ THIS FIRST!!: There are depictions of human experimentation and molestation of women and minors. If this (The NON CON touching) is triggering for you, please SKIP to the LAST THREE PARAGRAPHS AFTER UMA's DREAM CONVERSATION. I hope my readers can enjoy this work and I'd hate making people upset through this chapter. 
> 
> A messenger comforts one prisoner, an Astral offers a choice to another.

The selected prisoners were escorted by the armoured soldiers through a maze of corridors which were separate from the prison compound. Uma took in the different interior of the unfamiliar hallway—it was equally dark, lit by dim lights, but the walls seemed newer, less damaged.

She focused back on her fellow prisoners—they were trembling. The air in the corridor was too cold for the clothes they wore. Even if it wasn’t , the fear would have made them do so. With her hands bound, she couldn’t do anything for them without revealing her strength.

_I’m sorry._

The well-dressed man leading them held a card before another one of the numerous scanners. As the thick metal doors hissed open, the room it enclosed was very different from the corridors they came from.

It was a large circular space with stairs leading to wide walkways in the perimeter of the room. A humongous clear enclosed cylinder stood in its middle. Men in white coats buzzed around like worker bees in front of the transparent wall—it was made of glass, Uma realized, a precious commodity. And they had so much of it.

Likewise, the focus of the other prisoners were drawn to the main display in the room’s centre. As they were taken closer, the person in front of her stopped with a gasp, slapping her hands over her mouth. Uma almost tripped. Once she steadied herself and looked in the same direction, the reason was on unforgiving display.

Humans, stripped of clothing, were strapped down on tables. Tubes snaked around and into their bodies. Uma watched in horrified fascination as dark liquid filled the tubes periodically and entered the bodies of the trapped people. Their forms seemed to darken and shudder with the rhythm of the fluid pumped into them.

In a moment of clarity, she recognised their faces. The despairing young man who told her about Lucis. The woman who taught her words of their language and talked of the past.

With a shudder, their faces morphed and twisted into something completely different. The bodies spasmed, fighting against their bonds. They ballooned into something larger and inhuman, contorting into shapeless masses.

Screams of horror pierced the buzzing from the other researchers in the room. The prisoners fought and struggled against their armored captors with renewed terror and fury.

‘How could you!’.

‘I don’t want to die! _Astrals_ , save me! Save me!’.

‘Scum! Monsters!’.

The armored guards were prepared for the scuffle, grabbing resistors and wrestling them down with cool efficiency. Uma heard the sounds of bone snapping and howling.

Bang!

 The well-dressed man held aloft a smaller version of the weapons the soldiers wielded, nozzle pointed upwards. He lowers it upon being satisfied by the silence of the cowed prisoners.

Then, the man proceeded to dole out a long authoritative spiel, dripping with derision. He strutted around the trapped people, taking a few opportunistic kicks at several of them. Uma did not know many words yet, but she catches ‘worthless’ and ‘ingrates’. It was enough for her to understand.

She stole a glimpse at her former prison mates—they were beyond saving, only the shapeless dark monsters that came from their bodies were writhing and breaking their bonds.

The warrior recognized the signs. They were experiments. Viewed as nothing but a cheap and convenient resource by their own people.

Uma bit her lip to prevent the yell of anger that threatened to tear out of her throat. She was stronger now, much stronger than when she was a newly-made orphan ready to have alien flesh and blood forcibly placed in her body. She could smash all the armored soldiers before they fired a shot.

Yet…she knew too little. If she miscalculated, she would die—and the other prisoners will meet their fate as sacrifices all the same.

 So she let herself be dragged away, leaving the machinations of the empire's rich to roll on and claim its newest batch to test subjects.

* * *

It was a repeating cycle: Wake up, get cut open and subjected to another new experiment prepared for him, eat, use the bathroom, and sleep.

He spent most of the time sleeping. It was better than facing the four walls and the Niflheim scientists.

In this dream, he was in his room back in the Citadel. He huddled in his dream-bed, stealing whatever comfort he could from his memories.

Something vibrated on his cover.

Curious, he reached out of his blanket and felt for the object, retrieving it. The device was a smartphone. A message dialogue popped out.

“Come out! I can’t see you that well under your blankets. There’s stuff I’ve gotta tell you before you wake up!”.

“U-uh?” the boy uttered dumbly, before lifting his covers to see that his bed had one more furry occupant.

The fox-like creature yapped at him while the phone vibrated once more. Noctis looks down. “Finally!”.

“You can talk?”.

“Of course I can! Through the phone for now, though…” the typing stopped as the white fox seemed to contemplate, bushy tail swishing. Noctis noticed a tiny red horn on it’s forehead. Huh.

“By the way, I’m Carbuncle! I’m your guide in your dreams!,” the phone vibrated again. “ Now that’s done, you must know you’re in great danger, Noct!”.

The memories of terror and humiliation in the labs rushed back. “I know that already!” the eight-year-old bursts out, tears leaking, gripping the sheets. “I’m not dumb! I know! I just want to go—”.

A noisy sob cut him off and the world blurred. Once it sharpened again, the fox was leaning into him, licking tears off his face. Another message pops out.

“You’ll get home, Noct. The Astrals will make sure of it,” Carbuncle reassured him. “Listen! When you wake up this time, you’re going to meet your protector who’s going to take you home.”.

“M-my protector?” Noctis choked out, unsure. With everything that happened, he knew it was unlikely for him to escape this place. Yet, the dream guide nods its head vigorously as the phone vibrates several times.

“Yeah! She’s really strong! Even if she doesn’t think so!”.

“She’s stronger than any other human on Eos—except your dad. That’s enough to fight off the baddies who will come for you!”.

“It’s still gonna be a tough and long trip, so you better be ready for it!”.

“Oh and you’ll have to work hard to communicate with her. She can’t speak…”.

The last message baffled the boy. Was his protector mute?

Carbuncle hops on his knees excitedly. “Well? Sounds good, doesn’t it? Are you ready to get out of this place? Cos I am!”.

* * *

Another fellow inmate was taken to be experimented today.

And still, it wasn't the time for her to act. She didn’t know enough. She needed to learn the passageways, the security and their timing. And their doors.

 _Coward_ , a familiar little voice scorns in her head. It has faded since she started fighting against the Organization as a Ghost, so much that she had forgotten it for a long time. The self-doubt that tormented her during her tenure as a warrior was coming back in full force.

Sometimes when she was in the middle of scheming and noting the schedules of the guards, the insidious thoughts would drown out all logical thought. Spiralling her into a whirlwind of self-doubt.

What if you’ve been overestimating your captors? None of the prisoners would have died if you’ve already broke them out!

Is this plan going to work? You don’t even know what’s its like outside! Where would you take everyone?

We’ve done this before? Oh, it was Captain Miria’s planning, she could have saved more people if she was the one here, more than you can!

“Stop thinking,” Uma gritted her teeth, hoping her verbal affirmation would stop the negative distractions she was giving herself. “Shut up.”.

At some point, she fell asleep.

It was a queer feeling, suddenly becoming aware she was dreaming. She looked down at her hands—they donned the Organization’s gloves for warriors. She wore the full ensemble of the uniform of a hybrid soldier, and she felt the weight of her claymore on her back.

 How strange.

 Tearing her eyes away from her own body, her vision was filled with an expanse of blue—a closer inspection revealed them to be a thousand brilliant blue flowers. The buildings and jagged spires rising in the distance were unfamiliar. Not of the Continent.

“O warrior from a distant star, we finally meet,” a foreign, heavily accented voice of a woman spoke. Uma turned towards the sound, only to see a being hovering just above the flowers.

She couldn’t stop the undignified squeak that came out of her mouth. The being clearly had the appearance of a human woman, with skin and hair the colour of driven snow. Her dress indicated she was far from human—the decorations and gauzy cloth on her seemed more like they were part of her body than clothing.

 The being’s lips quirked slightly, as if she found the woman’s reaction humorous. “Confusion swells in your heart. Ask them, and the Glacian shall give her answer.”.

It took a moment for Uma to find her voice. “Why am I in this strange place,” that could have referred to the dreamscape. “I mean, the prison I’m stuck in?” She tacked in to clarify. “I remember falling of the cliff. It is unlikely I would have survived. I-I should be dead, but I’m alive in this unknown place.”.

Her voice trembled slightly. Uma could feel this being was powerful—she just didn’t know how much. Experience also taught her to be discerning of freely given information from strangers—especially if she knew next to nothing about her current circumstances.

Furthermore, the Glacian? She hadn’t heard anything remotely like that.

No, why was she so wary? This was a dream—something her mind had cooked up after agonizing too much over her plans for escape with the other trapped innocents.

The Glacian, fortunately, was amenable to questions as she had promised. She sighed, “This star has been plagued by the scourge that threatens to overtake it in eternal darkness. Should the eternal night come to pass, all living things will not survive.”.

“The Glacian is part of the Six that have sworn to protect this star. To remove the blight of the scourge, the Six have written a prophecy and gifted magic to two mortal bloodlines. However…”

“However?” Uma probed. She had heard of the Six and the legend of the plague that came from the sky. From what she gathered they were revered as gods of this land. She hadn’t heard of the prophecy, though.

“The only heir to one of the bloodlines has been taken by humans who have made themselves pawns to the darkness,” the appearance of the floating woman morphs in a whirl of snow. Once the warrior blinked away the moisture, the image of a little boy took her place.

He looked much healthier than most children she had seen, hinting that he had never faced hunger. Feathery raven locks brushed the eyelashes on the corners of his blue eyes. His face was slightly different from the denizens of the mainland she had seen so far, and he couldn’t have been more than ten summers old.

In a second gust of wind, the Glacian reappeared, replacing the image of the boy. Her tone was grave, “As things stand, he will not survive long. Even if he does, his spirit will be broken beyond repair. The prophecy cannot be fulfilled in both paths. This is where the Six have decided to take a strong warrior, destined for death, to this star, in hopes that she will save the child—our Chosen One.”.

“Wait, does the strong warrior…refer to me?”.

The Glacian nods. Uma didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Physically, she was stronger than any human, but emotionally? She needed her comrades beside her. Alone, she could only make half-baked plans and freeze in fear and indecision.

And they haven’t even mentioned that she was the weakest among the Seven Ghosts yet!

Uma shook her head. Enough with the self-pity. “What if I refuse?”.

The air chilled, though the Glacian’s voice was as even as ever, “Then the warrior has the choice to stay on this star or return to her home. However, should she choose to return home, she will be returned to the moment before her death, as the Six cannot interfere with the destiny of other stars not under their protection. Should she decide to stay here, she is free to do so as she wishes, but beware that this star will meet its doom soon.”.

Ah, so backing out wasn’t an option. Uma couldn’t stop a resigned laugh, nor keep the sarcasm out of her voice, “Other than magic and a prophecy, what makes saving this child more important than saving hordes of imprisoned innocent villagers who are going to be used for experiments—by their own rulers?”.

The Glacian turned her head slightly, gazing at the far-off distance as if recalling something, or perhaps avoiding her gaze. “The Six grieve, but there are matters humans must sort for themselves,” she sounded truly regretful. “In this case, the rulers of this empire you find yourself in are meddling with the scourge in pursuit of harnessing it as a weapon to bring other nations in this star under their control. They have lost sight of the morals they once had. And now…”.

The being finally turned back to Uma, tear tracks on her face, “They are accelerating the Scourge by infecting their own brethren with the plague in a bid to turn them into demons for weaponization. The same fate befalls to the people of other nations who have fallen to these rulers. Only the Chosen One has the power to eradicate the Scourge on this star. Without the Scourge, the endless night will end, and so will the existence of demons.”.

“And these rulers will lose their military strength and means to experiment on humans,” Uma added. “…but still no assurance of peace.”.

Regret lay before her in both options. An apocalypse, or perhaps a continuation of the war without its strongest player. To doom an entire world, or to sacrifice the group of innocents that had offered their warmth and knowledge to her, no matter how small they had been.

Still, the choice was clear.

“Shit,” Uma blurts out, uncharacteristically vulgar. “Tell me, if I save the boy, how many more years will it take for this empire to fall?”.

“When the Chosen one reaches twenty years of age.”.

“Twenty years!” her head spun. “At least another ten years’ worth of experimentation and slaughter of the masses!”.

 She heaved, chest rising and falling rapidly. Memories flashed.

 Waking up to see her sisters strewn across the snow, their bodies ice-cold after the massacre.

 The yoma standing above the corpses of her father and mother, mouth painted with their blood.

 The village adults fighting, their animals and carts stolen by those who fled in fear of the increasing number of deaths.

It took her several deep breaths to bring herself back under control. The Glacian seemed to deem it safe to pose her question.

“What is your decision, O warrior?”.

“I’ll save the boy. One more thing, you have better leave some proof of this exchange for me once I wake up.”.

“It will be done,” the Glacian finally smiles. “It will be a difficult and long journey, but know that you will do a great service. The Glacian will cover you from searching eyes of the darkness.”

* * *

The scientist brought his card to the scanner. The machine beeped as the steel doors slid open.

“132, you’re up,” the scientist drawled. Damn, this cell was chilly. Someone had better fix the wonky air conditioning in this containment unit before the next batch of prisoners were taken in. Still, his irritated demeanour changed considerably upon taking a closer look at who the prisoner was.

A smirk grew on his face. “Now, now, aren’t you a pretty one?”

The woman within kept her head lowered. Well, the submissive ones always gave their own brand of fun. Easier to subdue too. Still, he had a schedule to keep up.

Stalking over to the crouched prisoner, he gave a swift kick. “Come up!” he barked. “Don’t make me late, idiot.”.

With the prisoner finally complying and in tow, he could finally proceed with transporting her to the experimental labs. He barely masked his assessment of her as she passed. Tall and long-legged, but not gigantic. Lithe but with just enough curve. Pale skin and blonde hair. If she hadn’t been a captive who constantly kept her head down, she could have easily fit in as one of the pretty girls and boys Niflheim nobility loved to keep.

He wasn’t going to complain. Being experimental material, she was his to toy with. There was no one with him except for the MT every scientist was assigned with for protection. He was damned lucky for a low-born nobility that no-one bothered to remember.

Taking the opportunity when he overtook her to open another door, he cupped a breast. 132 flinched as he gave her chest a firm squeeze. His grin widened. “Don’t think about screaming. Your time with me will be the last fun you’ll get before they turn you into demon stock. You should thank me, village girl.”.

The woman stayed silent. Just as he took another chance to let his hand go lower, another voice whistled. “Having your fun already, Julius?”.

“Aw hell, it was just getting good,” Julius groans as he turned to see his fellow co-worker come towing his own prisoner for another round of examinations. Not exactly towing, actually.

The prisoner was seated in a wheelchair that was being pushed by an MT. The boy shivered in his paper-thin gown. He had become a lot tamer after several sessions with Niflheim’s finest scientists.

Julius and his co-worker shared a lecherous smile. The other scientist drawled, “Well, go on and play with your village flower. I have royalty to attend to.”.

Julius laughed. “You, attending royalty?” he stepped forward and leaned down, eyeing up the boy. “Well, how is his service, prince?”.

“Please, I’m the one who wipes his bottoms and help him wash,” the scientist deadpans. “I wouldn’t have to do that if his back wasn’t busted in the retrieval mission, but it makes him a lot easier to control.”.

Now his curiosity was peaked. Julius asked, “So how do you control a Lucis Caelum? Care to show me?”.

“Hey, we’re on a time limit here. Don’t make me late.”.

“Come on, we’ve all heard about what you do with the royal. Enlighten your friend?”.

The other scientist snorts, but he turns to the boy. “You. Lift your gown.”.

If it had been weeks ago, the prince would have resisted. But enough torment had taught him that there are things that he had to endure to avoid greater harm inflicted on him. The boy fisted the hem of his of his gown, eyes watering as he fought to hide them from the two scientists. Finally, slowly, he raised it up, exposing himself.

Julius’s co-worker wasted no time, placing his hands on the boy’s privates. Julius cackled at the sight. His co-worker, spurred on by the pleased audience, said something suitably intimidating and humiliating to the helpless wheelchair-bound prisoner.

A sudden crack and screech caused the two men to stop their activities. Both of them were greeted with the sight of the posted magitek guards falling to the floor, metal casings torn and dented, sparking with miasma flowing out of them—an indicator of damaged cores.

But no attacker was in sight.

The other scientist screamed. Julius turned his head only to see his co-worker impacting the wall on the other end of the hallway with a sickening crack.

The next thing he knew was a burst of pain in his head. His vision blurred and his limbs collapsed uselessly beneath him. As he hit the ground, the last thing he saw was a blonde blur vanishing down the corridor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I held off posting this because I kept rewriting the part about the Niff scientists. Partly because I couldn't stand writing that part. I hoped that was handled adequately and the tags and warnings were enough.
> 
> On another note, thank you, all of you who have given this fic a try and those who left kudos! It motivated me to revise and post this chapter early. I'm obsessed with getting my facts right and spelling correct so it takes one to two days for proofreading before I finally post a new chapter. (I've just realized that only Imperial troops use guns, but the MTs don't.) This author apologises for her longer update times.
> 
> I appreciate feedback on how I can improve my writing and this fic, such as handling sensitive themes and characterization. Feel free to point out any spelling and grammatical errors in the chapters too!
> 
> Kudos also give me energy to finishing this fic! Thanks for the support.


	3. A warrior and a prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Glacian tries to help and the language barrier poses some serious problems for the duo.

The iron floors were not conducive for running barefoot, Uma soon discovered.

And the increasingly cold passageways were definitely not conducive to keeping a small human child alive. Dressed in a thin tunic that barely reached his thighs, no less! Uma raised her body temperature, more than she usually did in the frozen North, hoping that would stave off the cold for the boy.

After opening yet another door using the torn-off arm of an armoured soldier (Or more accurately, a construct. She didn’t expect the interior of the armour to be empty save for black smoke and more metal), she cursed.

“What do I do?!” she groaned as she looked left to right. There were no patrolling armoured soldiers in sight, which was good. However, before her was a short walkway on the border of a steep drop. As she stepped out into the winter wind and snow, the boy’s shivering intensified. The cold had to be much more worse for him, with the weather steadily becoming a blizzard.

“I-I’m sorry. Please, just hold on!” Uma whispered to the boy, tightening her hold on him while raising her body temperature some more. She ran up to the edge of the walkway and peered down—visibility was so poor she could only see a featureless white down the cliff.

Even if she was much more durable than a human, there was no way she was risking a jump down an unknown height!

“I should have asked the Glacian to give me directions!” the warrior moaned. The ice on the floor of the cell that formed the image of the flowers she saw in her dream greeted her upon waking. Taking it as a sign of divinity, she played along with the lechers. Knocking them back to their ancestors had come naturally—she barely registered her former hesitation even after she got their wretched paws off the boy. Now, faced with a blizzard that the Glacian probably had a hand in, her former righteous fury fizzled into frustration. 

A glimpse of movement caught her eye. She swerved.

There the Glacian was, a white silhouette of a floating in the waves of snow. The spirit turned, flying off across the cliff in front of her, vanishing into the whiteness that surrounded them.

Uma gulped. She couldn’t see anything beyond the gap that yawned before her. Still, she had seen the signs of a god twice, and they shouldn’t lead her to a certain death because she was the only chance of survival their Chosen One had.

…Right?

The sound of a siren blared. Their captors must have found out about their escape. There was no doubt that soldiers will swarm the compound soon.

“Shit!”.

There was no time to lose! Uma backed a few steps, before sprinting towards the ledge.

 _Here goes nothing_. She thought as she kicked off and leapt towards nothingness.

* * *

The Glacian, fortunately, did not lead them to their death.

What came after was continuous fleeing on foot. The wind howled around them, snowdrift becoming thicker as the hybrid sprinted at top speed. The Glacian appeared fleetingly in the midst of the storm, guiding Uma whenever she was lost.

After a long while, the scenery seemed to change. Trees appeared one by one. It wasn’t until she had to make longer and higher leaps to avoid crashing into them did she realize they had made it to a forest.

Uma worried about her charge. The blizzard had not lessened, and they had stayed outside for too long. The boy’s shivering was so intense that he was practically vibrating out of her arms. He was going to get a frostbite soon, if he hadn’t already.

This time, the snow spirit appeared again, taking a turn towards the right. Uma hurried forward. What greeted her was what they desperately needed.

A cluster of houses.

In a leap, the half-human had slammed open the door of the nearest building, threw herself inside and shut the entrance.

Now that they were out of the worst of the cold, Uma could feel that the boy was positively icy. Not good.

She lay him down on a comfy chair that was meant for more than one person, before proceeding to scour the other rooms for blankets with superhuman efficiency.

Her search yielded blankets that were half-eaten by moths. Not thick enough. She ended up swiping off any fur mat she could find to add to her pile.

Returning to the Chosen One, Uma wrapped him in a blanket, pulled him into her lap and wrapped the covers around the two of them. A book dropped out from the covers, apparently she had carried it in her pile. The letters on its cover were as expected, foreign.

Now that she had the boy warming up, she could finally examine their surroundings. The interior was layered in dust and mold grew on the walls—indicating a long period of vacancy. Objects were strewn on the floor—clothes, material from the walls, papyrus (Or not. It was thinner and smoother. Hm). A fallen chair beside a table.

The former residents must have left in a hurry.

The two of them stayed wrapped together for a while longer. When the boy stopped shivering from the cold, Uma maneuvered herself out of their cocoon, blanketing the boy with the furs.

Now that he was stabilized, it was time to inspect the other houses. Perhaps she could find one that was better suited for them—one with a fireplace at least. She wasn’t going to chance going through the night without a fire.

After that, she had to find some suitable clothes and hopefully, food.

Stepping out, she realized the visibility had increased somewhat. Her eyes made out several other houses a distance away. Walking down the snow-covered land that was fenced-off, she glanced at the entrance and gasped.

A thick sword, long as tall as an average human, was impaled on the ground in front of the entrance. Uma jogged up to it and brushed off the coating of frost to reveal the symbol on the blade.

It was her claymore.

The warrior’s face split into a grin—something she hadn’t done for quite some time. Facing the dancing snow, she whispered, “Thank you.”.

* * *

Noctis was glad that his protector stopped the scientists from touching him, but he didn’t know what to think about everything else.

He couldn’t remember much of the journey from the labs to this abandoned village, too focused on gripping his protector and trying to burrow into her warmth. In some parts of the journey where his mind was clearer, they seemed to be flying.

Did his protector fly? He couldn’t figure it out. Was it a hallucination from the cold?

She came back later and carried him off to a warmer, nicer house and set up a fire. Then she helped him dress in clothes she found, changed out of her own hospital gown and proceeded to turn the house inside out to find more things.

It was a much better change from the labs. Still, Noctis was getting more worried as the sky rapidly darkened.

His tutors had taught him that daemons roamed outside Insomnia. The only places without daemons in the darkness was within the wall of the Crown City or a haven. They were at neither.

So, he had been desperately telling his protector they needed to find a haven. The blonde woman had only stared at him blankly, before speaking to him in a language he didn’t know.

The eight-year old was stumped. He didn’t know how to speak Niflheim, and his protector didn’t understand common Lucian.

After a heated exchange, his protector left him to find food, instead of going to search for a haven. Noctis tried to follow, but his legs couldn’t move and his back hurt. Thus he was left alone on a couch with a musty, well-worn book with “Dictionary of Common Lucian—Property of Tolmao!” on its cover.

A dictionary wasn't going to protect him from the daemons.

He flopped out of the couch, pulling the covers with him as he crawled his way closer to the fireplace. As long as he was close enough to the light, the daemons wouldn’t be able to get near him… right?

Tears leaked out of his eyes as he huddled on the floor. He wanted to be back at the Citadel. He wanted Uncle Clarus, he wanted Uncle Cor, he wanted his friend Ignis.

He wanted his Dad.

* * *

The moment the sun set, the eight-year old kept as quiet as possible, eyes and ears more alert they had ever been. It was quieter now after the winds dropped about an hour ago.

He flinched when the floorboards on the porch creaked. The door swung open.

The blonde woman came in, a shocked look on her face when she noticed Noctis was on the floor. Still, she came over to where he lay and fussed over him, questioning him worriedly in Niff.

“We’ve got to stay near the light,” Noctis tried convincing her the last time, though his effort proved futile once again. “The daemons are going to come.”.

His protector sighed, arranged him and his blankets so that he was comfortable, then proceeded to shift the results of her scavenging nearer to the firelight and started organizing them into the sacks she acquired.

A dreadful screech made him jump; he turned to see his protector give him a small apologetic smile, one hand raised while the other held the hilt of something huge that was dragging on the floor. He squinted, then gasped when he realized what the object was.

It was a sword, a huge sword that could compare to the ones Uncle Clarus wielded. The boy gaped as he watched the elder flipped the cumbersome weapon and caught it in reverse grip, before placing it gently near him. She barely broke a sweat.

Wow.

The moment of awe was shattered by a shriek of laughter.

The swordswoman reacted quickly; before Noctis knew it, she was crouched in front of him, sword ready, eyes sweeping across the room.

Peering outside, the boy caught a glimpse of green lights and flitting shadows outside the dusty window near the door—not unlike their firelight. The duo remained still as statues, holding their breaths.

A pattering of feet could be heard outside. Growing in volume. They seemed to belong to a group of children; running around the village aimlessly.

The sounds grew louder and closer….

Then paused.

The silence was deafening.

In the next instant, something hit the locked door. Once, twice. The fifth time, the sturdy oak collapsed with a screech, green fire consuming it. Beyond it, a ghoulish figure levitated, flames aloft in each palm.

It burst into dark smoke as a sword pierced through it.

A collective chorus of shrieks came from the outside. They were found out.

His protector shouted out something—probably a bad word, judging from her tone. The next thing he knew, she had vanished, leaving snow to fall through an empty doorway. Screams rose outside, accompanied by the sound of bodies hitting a hard surface. Noctis tried to sneak a look out the window with what little height he had—the number of green lights had increased, so had the dark figures under the wintry moonlight.

Silver flashed amongst the dark, turning the figures into smoke as it passed. Without a doubt—it was his protector.

She's strong! In that moment, Noctis remembered Carbuncle’s words. _You’ll get home, Noct!_

A crash sounded from the ceiling, tearing the boy from his thoughts. Terror rose within him as the sound of pattering feet approached from the stairwell.

The intruders came jumping and bouncing down, intent on the battle in the front lawn on the house. If they looked straight ahead, they wouldn’t find Noctis.

For a moment, Noctis thought he was in the clear.

Then the leading creature swerved its head. Its beady eyes locked onto the helpless child on the floor.

Noctis screamed.

The daemons cackled, making their way towards the fire. Under the orange light, they were noticeably shorter than a normal human, with elongated noses and hugely disproportionate feet.

The imp-like creatures prowled around the edges of the firelight, claws dangling, taking their time to torment their quarry. Booing, hissing and leaping.

One daemon lunged, grabbing Noctis’s immobile leg. Pulling him towards the darkness. The boy scrabbled against the wooden floorboards in an attempt to get a grip—to no avail. The daemon's grip was strong. The others, upon seeing their fellow creature’s success, were eager to grab at the boy, dragging him away from the firelight.

A wet thunk halted their macabre laughter. Daemon and boy turned their heads in unison—to see the headless corpses of the creatures that grabbed the boys’ feet puff into dark miasma.

Beyond the smoke, the blonde woman stood in her full glory, brandishing a huge sword.

The daemons screeched, only to be silenced by a quick slash from the long weapon that took off all their heads.

Dark liquid hit Noctis as the daemons dissolved into smoke. He trembled, unsure of what to do. Everything had happened too fast.

A warm touch on his shoulder brought him out of his daze. The boy turned to see his protector drape the furs that had fallen off in the scuffle on his cold body. She gave him a sheepish half-smile, speaking something that definitely sounded like an apology.

The two jumped upon hearing another distant cacophony of shrieks. Once the shock wore off, the warrior petted his head, making shooing motions at him while pushing him down to lie on the floor.

“Are you making me sleep?” the eight-year old muttered, only to be pressed down firmly and bundled by the covers like a cocoon. His companion seemed satisfied that she has him tucked in. Still, the boy noted that her grip on her sword hilt hadn’t loosened at all during the whole process.

“Are you going to stay up to fight the daemons?”.

She didn’t answer, proceeding to sit down next to him, facing the darkness, sword in hand.

At some point, Noctis fell into an exhausted slumber.

* * *

Uma was surprised to see the remaining monsters puff into smoke as the sun rose in the sky. Who would’ve thought they were so vulnerable to sunlight?

In hindsight, the boy had probably been warning her yesterday. The problems the language barrier posed just grew larger by every second. She had to tackle that soon.

Still, all things considered, they had endured it well. One night of tense vigil was finally over. She stumbled back into the house, finding the boy still asleep. The poor thing must’ve had finally given in to the exhaustion his body had accumulated until now.

Rest sounded attractive, even though she could run continuously for three days and two nights. Alas, she knew they couldn’t afford it. There was no more blizzard to interfere with the empire’s armies from marching out and commencing a search and capture mission. The search parties could cover plenty of ground in a short time, given the speed their levitating carriages could move. They had to maintain whatever lead they had.

She hastily packed her acquired provisions, adding the book after considering that it could help her with learning the language of this world. After tying them to her back, she hoisted the boy into her arms. Her live bundle startled awake at the sudden movement, freezing for a moment.

“You know, it’ll be better if you put your arms around my neck…” Uma commented, trying to ignore the fact that the boy’s hands were well…on her chest.

Currently, it reminded her of the disgusting touch of the pervert. And that of his lecherous partner.

Her passenger wound his arms tightly around her neck. The warrior raised her brows. Was that a coincidence? Then again, his legs were dangling uselessly—he would have slid off her eventually if he hadn’t latched on with his arms.

Well, it was high time they set off. The boy was in for a surprise. The warrior bent her legs.

Then leapt.

The boys’ shriek could be heard for miles.

* * *

Eventually, they encountered a shallow river. Perfect.

Blood was a huge no-no if they wanted to blend in. The monster slime stuck on them needed to be washed off, especially if they were going to more populated roads and villages.

Uma set the boy down beneath a tree, careful not to disturb his injured back. Picking out several relatively clean rags, she made her way to the water through the rocky shore, wincing as a sharp flint poked her foot through the thin shoes she found from the abandoned village.

The water was icy cold. Uma gave herself a mental pat on the back for not thinking about taking a bath in winter river water. Being able to withstand extreme temperatures made some warriors forget that humans technically couldn’t survive extreme cold. Wringing out excess water from the cloth, she made her way back to her charge.

He eyed her warily, probably wondering what she was going to do. Uma felt a little guilty—this wasn’t going to be the best cleaning experience for the kid, based on her experience with helping trainees bath in the Rabona orphanage. Better to get this over and done with.

She removed his oversized shoes and gently touched his feet first, motioning with the rag. The boy tensed up.

They stayed like that for minutes. She had to proceed carefully, knowing full well that she had to let him know she wasn’t going to touch or hurt him inappropriately.

The boy gave a tiny nod. Good.

Uma rubbed his feet clean swiftly. The boy stiffened again—because of the cold water.

The rest of the cleaning up process was equally careful. Uma would stop and wait for the boy to give his consent to clean off parts of his body. Slowly, the dark lack blood was removed from his face, limbs and back.

Only his front was left.

The child hesitated. Longer than the previous times. His hands gripped the edge of the hospital gown that he still wore as a shirt, knuckles turning white.

Uma knew what to do. Holding out the clean rag to him, she said gently, “You can clean yourself if you want to.”.

The boy’s eyes widened at the proffered washcloth, blues meeting her silver ones. She pushed it into his hand. Now that was done, she left to give him some privacy. Besides, she needed some privacy to wash off herself as well.

* * *

Noctis wiped off the monster slime on his front in record time. The air was freezing!

Now, the eight-year old rewrapped himself in the coat and furs and waited to feel toasty warm again. His protector had gone to the river to give him some alone time. Now that his business was done, he turned to focus on the figure that was currently knee-deep in the water and bent down in concentration. She had foregone the coat she took from the deserted village, wearing only a thin shirt and rolled up trousers.

The boy shivered at the thought of the ice water. How was she standing that cold??

Still, he was starting to see Carbuncle’s point. She seemed barely worn out after staying up the entire night fighting and guarding him from demons. When she ran, they literally flew. She was so fast, faster than the Regalia. And she swung the huge sword faster than Uncle Clarus!

Noctis sneezed. Yep, she didn’t look as cold as he was, even after running through a blizzard wearing nothing but the hospital skirt. He remembered her body was warm, fiery warm—almost like he was being hugged by a heater.

Weird. He was sure the citizens of Niflheim were normal humans, and she didn't seem to be made of magitek...

Meanwhile, there was action in the river. Water splashed about his protector. In one sudden motion, she grabbed and flung something out from the water. Something mid-sized and struggling on the shore.

The woman hurried back to him, smiling. The object she caught in the river was a fish.

Noctis gaped.

The blonde busied herself with setting a fire and scaling the prey. The boy couldn’t help himself. “How did you catch the fish? You don’t have a rod!”.

His companion turned to him, cocking her head. The prince wilted a little. She didn’t understand.

No! He wasn’t going to give up! Noctis shifted himself, sticking his finger into the snow and began drawing a stick man, a fishing rod and a fishing rod with a fish.

The Niflheim prisoner came around to look, eyebrows raising as she figured out his meaning. After a while, she stuck her own finger into the snow, drawing a bent figure with hands under the water, fish coming near the hands, the figure grabbing a fish and the figure tossing the fish on the riverbank.

“Wow…I didn’t really think people fished that way. I’ve always used a fishing rod,” the prince commented. His companion huffed, though he wasn’t sure she guessed what he said.

Soon, a fire crackled merrily with the gutted fish meat stuck on a stick beside it. The scent of roasted fish and heated oil made Noctis’s stomach grumble. It almost smelled like the salmon served in the Citadel.

He missed the Citadel.

The blonde lady tested the fish, then held out a fish skewer to him. Dripping with oily, delicious goodness. Noctis was so hungry that he practically snatched it out of her hands, chomping down on the slabs of meat as it cooled.

It tasted exactly like the food from home.

The boy wiped off homesick tears before they started leaking. Once he took a look at his skewer, he found the meat almost gone.

His protector hadn’t eaten yet!

Turning to his companion, the warrior was now eyeing an opened can she had placed on criss-cross of sticks she had laid above the fire. She gave him a questioning look upon catching his stare. Noctis looked guiltily as he held out the pretty-much finished skewer to the one who had caught it.

She eyed it, tilting her head again. Noctis guessed it was a habit of hers to do that whenever she didn’t understand something. Eventually, the woman accepted the skewer, and delicately took a few bites, clearing the remaining scraps of meat.

The stick fell carelessly to the ground. The prince eyed her carefully, watching for any signs of anger. There was none.

There was no sound save for the sound of river water flowing over the rocks.

“Uma.”.

“Uh?”, Noctis started, not expecting his companion to speak. The woman pointed at herself and repeated, “Uma.”.

“Uma?”. The blonde warrior nodded as Noctis echoed the word. The eight-year old broke into his first grin in a long time. “Your name’s Uma!”.

Noctis pointed at himself. “I’m Noctis. Uhhhh, just Noctis.”.

“Inoctis?” A blonde brow crept to her hairline.

“Noctis!”. The boy hastily corrected.

“Noctis.”.

The two shared tentative smiles. Then, the woman took the can out and offered it to him, looking at him expectantly.

The boy took a peek at its contents.

Canned veggies.

Noctis wrinkled his nose at it. He wasn’t going to start to eat his greens…even if they were canned. Besides, he was pretty much full from the salmon anyway.

He sneaked a peak at Uma, half-expecting Iggy’s bespectacled face to give him a withering look that said _Eat your veggies, highness_. But no, Uma didn’t seem to detect his utter disgust for vegetables, still holding out the can with a smile.

 _What can I do what can I do…ah!_ Noctis pointed at the can and made an eating and gagging motion. The warrior looked utterly mystified, turning the can to see the neat numbers printed on the can.

Uma wrinkled her brow. Noctis added, “It’s past the best before date. If anyone eats it, they’ll get sick.”. To make sure she got his meaning, he mimed falling sick, having a stomach ache and throwing up.

The warrior looked disbelievingly and took a sniff at the contents. She eyed the boy with suspicion, and Noctis was quick to display a face of innocence.

In the end, the veggies were discarded.

Unfortunately, Uma made sure to forage for greens and roots for every other meal.

* * *

Maurice adjusted the beanie on his head and breathed in the cool morning air. The weather had taken a sudden strange turn in the past two months. The radio reported that a blizzard sprung out of nowhere around Gralea. Now, since the past week, the children of Tenebrae have been enjoying an unexpected snowfall in early autumn.

He and his wife had to fish out the clothes they expected to wear at least two months later, and the weather hadn’t been kind to his aching bones. At least their grandchildren were happy!

“Hello? Sir?” a young voice called out. The old farmer removed his hand from the joystick of his trusty old truck and poked his head out. A woman carrying a young boy stood beside the fence of his property, a sack and a long object rolled up in a blanket dangling over one shoulder. Both of them were dressed in warm well-worn clothes. The woman could have been Tenebraen, with pale long hair cascading down her back. Yet, the boy on her back obviously had foreign blood, with black hair characteristic to the Lucians.

“Good day. How can I help you?” It was clear they weren’t any of the Niflheim families that came to Tenebrae just to throw their weight wherever they pleased, and Maurice always did have a soft spot for refugees. Without the Oracle’s presence, the people of Tenebrae would easily have lost their rights to their homes like many of the other natives after Niflheim took over their lands. Besides, by definition, they were all Imperials.

The boy smiled, tone ever polite. “Can you tell us how much longer is it to the nearest city, sir? We’ve been walking along this road for days.”

“Well, as long as you continue following this road you’re on, you’ll make it to Zoldara Henge, home of the Oracle, in a day,” the old man stopped. “Well, perhaps late afternoon, if you’re going on foot.”.

“Fenestela Manor….” The woman mumbled thoughtfully. Meanwhile, the boy on her back followed up with the conversation. “It’s okay, thank you!”.

“Are you sure you don’t need a ride?” Maurice wasn’t one to give strangers free rides, but travelling to Fenestela Manor on foot while carrying a disabled boy was too trying even for a strong man.

“No need,” the woman replied softly, her voice strangely accented. “Thank you.”.

“Ah…I wish all the best to both of you, then.”.

“Thanks!” the boy piped up as the woman began to walk along the road under a clear blue sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first I have to apologise for updating later than usual. I'm preparing to move so there probably won't be updates for a few weeks (Unless I finish another chapter on the plane ride haha). I did get Chapter 4 written out though, but it feels pretty choppy so I'm not going to post it until I iron it out.
> 
> I've also been editing my first two chapters. I didn't expect the system to actually put it in the first page of the updated fics! I hope this chapter will make up for that. 
> 
> It was painful to do the research for Tenebrae. I had half of it written out until I remembered it was on a different Continent from Lucis. (I didn't play the game). The next half of my research involved poring over five playthrough videos to see where "Ulwaat" and "Ruscialla" was (IDK the lettering made figuring out the names of these locations difficult!). 
> 
> If anyone's confused, the Marilith attack occurred during M.E 744, while the battle between Niflheim and Shiva that resulted in most of Niflheim experiencing constant winter in the FF15 game happened later in M.E 745. This fic takes place in M.E. 744. Therefore, the Empire's completely befuddled at the sudden blizzard that covered the land from Gralea to Tenebrae. 
> 
> On another note, it took more than a month for Uma to travel from Gralea to Tenebrae. The continent is huge and I'm basing the time off how long it took for a person to drive from Singapore to England. Its a headcanon that Uma continuously runs at superhuman speed for this trip and I'm assuming she can keep up with a car 
> 
> Finally, thank you all so much for the kudos and 188 hits! I honestly never thought so many would read this fic. Thank you all who have given this story a try! If you like this please let me know by commenting and leaving kudos!
> 
> Notes:All Claymores have a unique symbol that identifies them within the Organization. It is engraved on their respective claymores and stitched on the mock-neck dickey/tux-front that is part of their uniform
> 
> Uma's doing the best she knows how to treat Noctis. It's heavily implied that Claymores and women in the Land of Claymore often suffer sexual abuse, from bandits and yoma alike.
> 
> In canon, Claymores are able to move continuously for three days without sleep and can go through a week without food and water with little problem. (Which doesn't seem to be realistically possible, given how much they move in a day!). Most of the time, they eat a tiny portion of food once every few days (Specifically, one small bite.(O_O;)).


	4. The stone cast in water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two find refuge in Tenebrae. The ripples from the decision of the Astrals start to show...

Noctis and Uma huddled beneath the ledge of the train station platform. Imperial soldiers chatted above, the footsteps of passengers and soldiers alike sounding on top of them as the doors began to close.

Minutes later the train chugged away, its wheels stirring up dust that caused the prince to sneeze. Once the sound of footsteps died off in the distance, Uma hoisted the both of them up and onto the platform. Thankfully, no one noticed in the mostly deserted station.

Throughout the entire journey, Uma had been single-mindedly travelling, as if she already decided where the two of them should go. They had travelled at night, avoiding Imperial patrols and always keeping a lookout for ships in the sky. Sometimes, Noctis thought she was like a migratory bird—seemingly being guided by some instinct too run across the endless plains in the midst of a snowfall. Now though, it was clear that her goal had been Tenebrae.

Because they’d been staying here for three days, while they had been continuously traversing the deserted lands without a day of rest before arriving at the train station in Zoldara Henge.

That and Uma looked lost.

Noctis couldn’t help but wonder—can protectors appointed by the Six get lost?

Both of them jumped upon a dog’s bark. Uma whipped her head so quickly that Noctis was slapped with a faceful of hair. Blinking, the prince turned to see their witness standing innocently beside a bench.

The furry black pup wagged its tail and proceeded to prance in circles around the two. Noctis could feel Uma’s muscles tensing underneath him as she eyed the newcomer. No no no, it would attract attention if she kicked the dog and it made a fuss, right? The prince hastily whispered into his piggyback carrier’s ear before she decided to off the creature, “Uma. Friend. It’s better to leave it alone.”.

The warrior gave him a look that expressed _What?_ She understood the first two words at least, attempting to gingerly sidestep their newest enthusiastic acquaintance. The pup just bounded forward, tail furiously swishing, before running down the station steps, stopped, then turned back to bark at the duo.

The warrior and the prince stared at the animal’s display blankly, before the coarse language of soldiers sounded from the other end of the platform gave the two enough reason to scramble away.

They didn’t notice that they were being led by the dog until Noctis realized that they were climbing a mountain.

* * *

Luna regretted taking her eyes off her dogs, now she was one dog missing and fifteen minutes late for lunchtime with her mother!

“Umbra! Where are you?” the little princess turned to her other furred companion for help. The other pup shook its white fur and gave the biggest yawn, swishing her tail leisurely. “Not helping, Pryna!”.

Finally, a familiar bark sounded from the distance, accompanied by the rustling of Sylleblossoms. Luna raised her head to see the missing canine bounding through the field of blue flowers towards her, barking to signal his arrival.

“Umbra! O-oh,” the princess stops her joyful exclamation mid-shout. Behind her dog, a tall figure dressed in a mishmash of clothes followed swiftly, something huge on the persons back. No one was supposed to have access to the Sylleblossom field that was part of Fenestela Manor, except for the members of the household and their guards and servants. This person was clearly not any of them.

Light glinted off the long and huge object the person held in one hand.

A huge sword.

The princess screamed.

“Wait! Wait! We’re not bad people!” a young child’s voice piped up. Luna blinked, mustering her courage to take a second look—a black-haired boy, younger than her, was waving his hands frantically in an attempt to placate her. The person who held the sword carried him on her back, piggy-back style.

“Uh, hi,” the boy greeted he wide-eyed princess sheepishly now that she stopped her shriek. “Uma’s holding on to the sword cos it fell out when we were following this black dog halfway up the mountain. She’s not going to hurt you. We’re hoping to pass by and…please don’t tell anyone about us?”.

Up the mountain? The entire property of Tenebraean royalty resided atop stone peaks! How did these two scale the cliff wall while one had to carry the other, a backpack and a sword?

And catch it when it fell out no less!

The person, a young woman with long blonde hair, stuck the sword in the ground in a smooth move and stepped away from it, her expression non-threatening as she attempted to give the girl a small smile. Luna’s heartbeat slowed now that she knew they weren’t going to hurt her (The woman wouldn’t hurt her in front of the boy, would she?), and eyed the two newcomers.

They had obviously been travelling, dirt smudged their faces and clothes. The woman wore a thick winter overcoat and a mismatched long green dress, while the boy was bundled up in a blue scarf and an oversized fur coat. He wore socks, but no shoes, the princess noted.

All in all, they looked like they had just worn their clothes without caring what they looked—or because they didn’t have a choice.

Luna knew what her mother had cautioned to do: Avoid such people as much as she can. They had to avoid giving the Imperial men an excuse to enter Fenestela Manor.

But still…

Pryna, who had stayed quietly beside the princess for the entire exchange, followed her brother’s lead and trotted to the duo’s side, plopping herself beside feet clad in muddy worn shoes. Both canines turned their large expectant eyes in unison to the unsure princess.

Though young, as a member of the Oracle bloodline, Luna recognised the sign for what it was.

Clearing her throat, she spoke as calmly and politely as she could, “You could come with me. No Imperial passes through my home. Besides, if you want to leave this city, I know a hidden way for you to sneak out.”.

The blonde woman’s expression didn’t change, but the boy was quick to catch on. “Uh, are you sure? How do you know we’re not going to do anything bad? A-and, the soldiers won’t spare your family if they find out about us.” He asked worriedly. The princess allowed herself to give him a grin.

“If my dogs are okay with you, then everything’s going to be fine!”.

* * *

They didn’t make it through her bedroom window.

Luna pointedly sat beside her guests, despite the waves of disapproval rolling off the guards that had caught Noct and Uma on her bedroom window (She was leading them! They weren’t intruders!). Well, if the guards were going to point their swords at the two, it was her duty as one of the bloodline of the Oracle to protect the innocents favoured by the Messengers!

Frantic footsteps from the hallway were followed up with the queen rushing into the function room, blue-and-gold robes billowing like storm clouds. The captain of the royal Tenebraen guards escorted her with another four subordinates. That made a total of 20 guards for 2 innocents.

Her mother’s face was severe, wearing the expression that was reserved for entertaining Imperial ambassadors and their nobles. She addressed her captain with a voice that could cow an entire hall of lesser men, “Marco, report.”.

The captain was quick to abide. “Your majesty, two intruders were found attempting to enter Princess Lunafreya’s quarters through the window by the patrols. The woman was carrying the child and a large sword. We have removed it and no other weapons were revealed after inspection. The princess was fortunately unharmed.”.

Luna watched Sylva Via Fleuret’s face pale when her eyes landed on the huge, unwieldy broadsword that was currently in the hold of one guard, positioned as far from Uma as possible. Not good.

“Mother!” the princess hurriedly spoke up. “They aren’t intruders, I was the one who brought them in!”.

She caught a few guards swerve their gazes onto her. Her mother’s reaction was more explosive. “What!? Lunafreya, you should know better than to do that!”.

The Queen redirected her hard gaze at the duo currently seated beside her, about to demand an explanation from the two. Luna had to stop this questioning before it was too late.

“Umbra brought them to me. The messengers have insisted that I help them! They would have protected me if these to meant me harm!” the princess raised her voice, bordering on a shriek.

That made the Queen pause. The gazes of the guards flicked between mother and daughter. Uma and Noctis remained stock still in their seats.

Sylva regained her composure almost imperceptibly. “Umbra, Pryna,” she called. Right on cue, Luna’s two dogs trotted out from under the table and sat in front of the monarch. Queen Sylva kneeled down until she was eye level with the canines.

Noct and Uma shifted as minutes ticked by, their expressions bewildered and stoic respectively. It was natural for outsiders to be baffled witnessing the Queen communicating with the canine messengers. Luna and the guards have long since been used to this ritual and waited silently.

“I see,” her mother’s quiet declaration resounded in the deathly quiet room as she stood up and smoothed her royal blue robes. “These two will be received as temporary guests in the Manor. Captain, please make arrangements for their accommodation, and make sure their stay remains discreet.”.

Marco bowed, “Yes, your majesty.”.

“Now,” the monarch returned her attention to the currently seated duo, her eyes focused on Noct. “I’ve heard that the boy is injured.”.

“Yes, Mothe—” Luna rushed to explain, but the Queen cut her off with a raised hand. She addressed Noct, her tone much gentler, “Hello my dear, will you tell me your name?”

They raven-haired boy met her eyes shyly. “I’m Noct.”.

“Well, Noct.” The queen started, “We’ll take you somewhere where I can check your injury and see if I can fix it. However, the guards will have to come with us for protection.”.

The boy didn’t answer immediately, his eyes flicking over to the woman seated beside him. Ever since the conversation between Sylva and Noct started, it was clear to Luna that Uma’s face had stilled even more (How did that happen? Her face was already so rigid when the guards caught them…).

“Uhm, I-I want my sister to come with me,” Noct forced out steadily.

“That’s…” her mother’s voice trailed off. Luna definitely caught her giving a suspicious glance at Noct’s sister. “You and your sister will be safe here. The checkup will be fast. It will not hurt either.”.

“I…” the boy threw a desperate look at Uma, whose eyes narrowed upon seeing the change in the younger’s mood. The guards inched slightly closer to the prisoner.

The princess glanced at the child’s hands—they were actually trembling. He was terrified, Luna realized.

That definitely did not go unnoticed by her mother. Sylva spoke her next words with much more kindly than her previous ones. “How about this--your sister may stay in the same room with you while I give you a checkup, but we will need more guards with us. It’s for protection for all of us. Is that alright?”.

Noct nodded, a small, grateful smile emerging at the queen's words. With that, the group was moved to one of the larger guest bedrooms to accommodate the checkup, the princess, Uma as well as twenty-five guards.

Noct was laid front-first on the guest bed, her mother standing beside him and Luna seated on the other side of the bed. Uma, on the other hand, was forced to stand on the other end of the room surrounded by at least fifteen out of the twenty-five guards.

The queen placed her glowing palms on the boy’s back and started the incantation. “Blessed stars of life and li—".

Crack!

Blue light ricocheted throughout the room, catching everyone off guard. Uma gave an undignified yelp. The guards scrambled to draw their swords. The queen withdrew her hands as if they had been stung. Luna nearly toppled out of her own chair.

“This…” her mother gasped as she steadied herself. She swallowed, eyes wide. Luna looked at her mother worriedly, was she going to be angry? She wouldn’t order the siblings to be jailed, would she? Umbra and Pryna had vouched for them!

“This is the magic of the Lucii…By any chance, is your name Noctis Lucis Caelum?”.

With that question, the shock in the room multiplied tenfold. 

Noct looked absolutely stunned, unable to answer. But the display of magic was proof enough for the audience.

“My goodness…I should have known. You look like your father when he was younger,” Sylva stroked the boy’s head tenderly. “ How in the Astral’s name did you end up here?”.

* * *

Sylva Via Fleuret’s mind was whirling at the speed her servants ran around making arrangements for the unexpected turn of events.

When she saw the sword, the first thing that came to her mind were the reports of a fearsome Nifleim General, the silhouette of a similar blade in his hand. She had yet to see how the obviously Niflheiman woman, Uma, fared with the weapon, but it was enough for her to suspect that it was a bait tossed out by the Emperor.

After the assurance from the Messengers and feeling the boy’s magic for herself, Sylva was inclined to think that the arrival of the two was not part of a trap conceived to seize the blood of the Oracle once and for all. Noctis’s story that came out in bits and pieces with patient coaxing made her blood boil. And echo a near-constant fear that every Fleuret possessed for nearly five hundred years.

To think that the Emperor Aldercapt would sanction experimentation on a child, and to think that Niflheim had enough power to seize the Crown Prince from the heart and stronghold of Lucis protected by magic…

There was no doubt that he could do the same to Ravus and Lunafreya.

“What plagues the mind of the Oracle?”.

There was no mistaking that distinctive accent and the slight drop in the temperature of the room. The queen opened her eyes to see a dark-haired woman draped in black finery standing beside her in her previously empty office.

“High Messenger,” Sylva addressed Gentiana respectfully. Knowing better than to mask her worries, she confessed, “The arrival of the Chosen One to my abode has raised my concerns…”. It was given that she had to shelter Noctis from the Empire, but what about the Niflheiman? Would the Empire’s next move involve her?

Gentiana’s mysterious smile did not waver. “The Oracle need not doubt the warrior. Unlike many, within her blade still lies a heart.”. The ethereal messenger turned her face towards the window, as if she could see Lunafreya wheeling Prince Noctis through the gardens with her closed eyes. “The Chosen One was not meant to be spirited to the land where the darkness has taken root. The Six have cast a stone into the changing waters in hopes to right the path towards the prophecy. The warrior will be the one to bring him home.”.

“The prophecy” Sylva exhaled. “I see.”.

Luna raced over to the Sylleblossoms and picked one, before thrusting it in front of her playmate. The Lucian prince accepted the gift, but flailed his hands when her daughter returned with one more and attempted to put it in his hair.

Sylva allowed herself a smile. She hadn't known that her daughter would be so happy to have a substitute for her usual giftee.

Gentiana was no longer in the room when the Queen turned away from the carefree play of the two children. She sighed, then made her way to her office door. Captain Marco stood at attention outside. She gave him a nod.

“Reduce the number of guards watching our other guest.”.

* * *

It had been a good day. There was no need to avoid the Niflheim patrols and airships in the day and braving the wilderness full of daemons at night. His back didn’t hurt at all. For the first time in a long while, he had spent a warm afternoon getting a tour of the castle from Luna, playing in the Sylleblossom field, and reading books with her. He’d even met her brother.

Ravus Nox Fleuret had seemed aloof and prim like a proper prince would. Once Luna plopped a Sylleblossom on his head though, the image was thoroughly broken as the elder indulged his little sister's wishes.

It was a good day.

Noctis had been so caught up in the afterglow of his happiest day in months that he forgot an important detail.

He only remembered when he was wheeled into the bathroom and the male servant wouldn’t go.

“Your Highness, let’s get you out of your clothes, shall we?” the servant reaches to take his shirt.

Noctis freezes. The bathroom is replaced with a cold bare cell. The scientist that took him here has his hand on his gown, and he orders him to take it off…

“Your highness, the bath will be freezing if you stay here any longer,” the man’s voice slightly lilts at the end, as if he found it funny.

The scientist shoves him roughly into the water, his hands squeezing and uncaring towards his yelps of pain. It only gentles when it travels lower…

“Do you have difficulty with your clothes, your highness? Let me raise you a bit…” the man walks to the front of the wheelchair and towers over him—

\--grabbing, revealing himself, sneering at his tears.

“NO!”

  
Noctis slaps the arm away, and struggles to wheel the chair out when the bewildered servant reaches out to him again. He has to get out! He has to get out—

He can’t reach the handle.

“Let me go! Let me go!” He slams his hands on the door, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Even though he knew that the doors would never open—

The door swings open, the other three female servants assigned to him stand outside. The elder servant rushes to him while the other younger woman yells at the servant in the bathroom, “What happened? What did you do?!”.

“I’ve only tried to lift him, then he started screaming!”.

“Then why—” Noctis doesn’t catch the rest of the conversation as the elder servant wheeled him to the other side of his assigned bedroom. The third servant left the room swiftly. The lady kneeled down to meet him at eye level and asked him gently, “Your highness? Can you tell me what happened?”.

Noctis’s vision blurred with tears as he heaved and gasped. Instead of words, he could only make a thin wail between his sobs.

Moments later, sounds of multiple footsteps echoed from the hallway. The queen appeared with her guard and the servant that had left the room, still dressed in her sleeping robes. She surveyed the scene with hard eyes: a sobbing prince, a servant lady glaring at the manservant, and a bathroom that still had steam floating out from the open door.

“Tell me what occurred here.”.

“Y-your majesty,” the male servant bowed, slightly stammering out of fear. “I was assisting Prince Noctis with his bath. He started screaming, and wanted to get out. I-I haven’t touched him, your majesty!”.

Queen Sylva’s expression grew more thunderous after hearing the manservant’s explanation. She turned to Noctis, who was still crying in the corner with the elder servant and stepped towards the boy. The queen’s expression softened immediately, bending down and enveloping him in a comforting hug.

“Noctis, did the manservant do anything untoward…bad to you?” her tone was soft.

Noctis wanted to say no, but his voice was incomprehensible in his violent sobbing. He could only shake his head desperately. The queen and the other occupants shared a look.

They had no idea what to do.

A screech sounded in the hallway and another newcomer shot through the open door. It took a moment for the occupants in the room to shake themselves out of the surprise that came from the speed that Uma dashed into the bedroom.

“Noctis!” the warrior spoke the one word she had become the most familiar with. The prince had never been more glad to see her panicked face and frazzled banner of pale blonde hair.

“U-uma,” he blubbered. The warrior hurried forward, kneeling down before his wheelchair, placing her palms on the side of his face. His blurry vision registered his protector’s silver eyes burning with a look that was only reserved for humans and creatures that she registered as threats. Noctis hurriedly shook his head before Uma got the wrong idea.

The warrior asked lowly, “…Past?”.

Noctis nodded. Uma knew. She had carried him when the memories resurfaced, rocking him as he cried and trembled, unable to move.

“Uma?” Queen Sylva asked. “Would you explain why Noctis is in such a state?”.

Uma can’t understand what you’re asking, Noctis wanted to say, but the dreadful hiccups and gasps prevented him from getting his words out. She hadn’t learnt enough words to understand the Queen’s question yet.

For a long moment, the room was filled with the boy’s heaving. The servants were visibly impatient, and the guard shifted uncomfortably.

“In Empire…” Uma’s voice fumbled as she tried to string her response. “People in white…” she mimicked putting on a labcoat. “They do…bad thing.”.

The Queen furrowed her brow, not quite understanding what she was getting at, other than saying the obvious. The warrior shut her eyes in frustration, then opened them again.

She motioned to her chest and made a grabbing motion. “They touch…do bad thing many…women, children.”.

She paused. “Him too.”.

The others were silent. The Queen’s arms had stiffened around Noctis. He snuck a glance at her face and her look halted a sob--Sylva’s expression was positively terrifying.

The monarch closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Steadying herself.

“Thank you, Uma,” the queen spoke sincerely—which was completely different from how she treated Uma before. She then turned back to Noctis.

“Noctis, you’re safe here. If anyone touches you inappropriately, tell me. You’ve done nothing wrong,” she stroked his raven hair. Noctis felt tears well up again.

The Queen continued to soothe him.

“Cry as much as you need to. Hear me, Noctis? None of this is your fault.”.

* * *

  
After Noctis was ready to take his bath again, Uma had helped him with the assistance of a manservant. This continued every single night.

If Uma had been anyone else, she might have considered it a nuisance. But after seeing the horrific scars the Organization and yoma left on the more unfortunate girls, and experiencing several close shaves herself, looking at Noctis reminded her of her younger self.

Somewhere in the midst of carrying him through the empire’s lands, she had found herself making a promise to stay by him as long as she could. Hopefully until the terrors from the abuse would no longer control him.

Her eyes blinked once again to the darkness of an early morning, her body accustomed to function on minimum sleep. Uma stretched and stood up.

She speedily freshened herself, then took her claymore and her dictionary--a useful tool in case her words failed her. Her footsteps were light as she crossed the halls, nodding to a few guards who were on their shift.

Once she reached the training hall, Uma wasted no time going through the motions with her blade. She could not afford to grow rusty under the Tenebraean Queen’s hospitality, not when she had to carry her charge to another continent where war currently raged. Furthermore, her time in the day was packed to the brim with lessons. Mainly language and current world affairs. Her time was stretched thinner after insisting that the tutors teach her navigation and how to use their devices.

Inwardly, she wondered if Clare ever had to tackle so many tasks when she travelled with Raki.

The darkness of the hall lifted as light began to stream through the large windows when the sun rose.

Practice finished, the warrior had been wiping her face with a towel when the huge wooden doors to the hall swung open.

That was new.

A tall young man stood at the doorway, sword on his hip. His eyes landed on Uma who was currently seated on a bench at the side, claymore propped at her side, towel frozen in mid swipe.

They shared a moment of awkward staring.

“Good morning,” the young man addressed her.

“Good morning,” Uma parroted back.

“I’ve heard you come here to work out at four everyday,” the newcomer said lightly. His clothes were of good quality and markedly different from that of the royal guards, she noticed, but he didn’t seem to intend to belittle her. Hm.

“I don’t have time to train in the day,” she decided to continue the exchange. She wasn’t going to be able to hold an argument anytime soon, but a polite conversation wasn’t beyond her ability.

The young man inclined his head a bit, indicating his understanding. The royal tutor’s sudden change in students were hardly unnoticed by the denizens of Fenestela Manor. Princess Luna frequently made use of the free time to accompany Noctis, while the Prince…well, she hadn’t heard much of his activities, being the one subject to intensive language lessons.

“I am Ravus Nox Fleuret, may I know your name?”.

“I’m Uma, Ra…Prince Ravus.”.

“Just Ravus is fine,” the prince looked vaguely constipated upon hearing her clumsy address for him. “Do you have a surname?”.

A surname? What was that?

“Just Uma.”. That would probably change in the future, now that she knew it was expected of everyone to possess a surname. If she wanted to blend in, she would have to think of an appropriate one.

On another note, she should be preparing for her lesson soon. “Ravus, I take my leave…I have lesson,” the last sentence was the choppiest and most awkward sentence she spoke in the entire day by far! If it had been Captain Miria…

“Ah that…the tutor won’t be conducting lessons today. He’s taken a leave of absence. Mother would have sent a servant to inform you after breakfast.”. Uma stopped midway out of the training hall.

“…Oh?” the warrior choked out after a long period silence. Why did all her carefully memorised words and phrases have to disappear when presented with an unexpected situation!?

“On that note, would you like to have breakfast with us? Luna has been asking to meet you, and Noctis has missed your company in the past week,” Ravus’s face was full of sincerity.

It was just an invitation to meet the princess, wasn’t it? Uma nodded, then finally remembered the appropriate phrase, “It would be my pleasure.”.

* * *

  
Minutes later at the table, the warrior was making a solemn vow to never say yes to whatever she didn’t understand.

Noctis had brightened up upon seeing her seated before the breakfast platter. He and the prince and princess chatted animatedly with the Queen adding in here and there. Perhaps it was her imagination, but, had all the four other occupants of the table called her to answer a question fifteen times in the last quarter of an hour?

“Uma,” Queen Sylva’s eyes were warm. “Andre has taken a leave of absence for today. Would you like to accompany us today for a change?”.

  
Uma’s will wilted under the force two pairs of expectant eyes from the youngest two royals, and a third pair that did not convey childish hope, but with a vague threat. Combined with the presence of a Queen…

The warrior found herself repeating the same phrase for the second time in the day, “It would be my pleasure.”.

Uma had honestly thought she would have spent the entire day trailing awkwardly after the royals like a fifth wheel.

She did not expect herself to enjoy it.

A stroll in the royal gardens lead to the Sylleblossom field, where Noctis and Luna made flower crowns for the Queen and the warrior. The raven-haired prince also took the opportunity to walk a few steps, pleasantly surprising the blonde swordswoman who had missed out on his progress.

Lunch had posed another problem.

Uma had to explain her condition under the weight of two possibly judgmental stares from the monarch and her son.

“I do not need…eat lot of food,” she gesticulated, flustered. “I need…eat one portion a day.”.

Thank goodness they hadn’t asked her to define what one portion was.

They day ended in the late afternoon after a sparring match with the prince in the training hall. Uma withheld her strength initially, only to be surprised by the strength of the prince’s strong blow—it felt like she was crossing swords with one of the seasoned giant guards of Rabona.

“You’re strong!” she exclaimed.

“So are you, but you haven’t been using all of your strength. Am I too poor an opponent for you to restrain yourself?” the prince challenged smoothly. A glance to the spectator stands confirmed that Queen Sylva and the Captain of the Royal Guards had stood up and were both on the verge of voicing their objection.

She absolutely didn’t want to ruin a lovely day and the hard-earned trust from the Queen over a sparring match.

“Ready yourself,” she called out and the two readied their blunt practice swords.

Ravus barely registered the warrior vanishing from her spot. Stupefied, he didn’t react to the bop on his head.

“Let’s call it a day,” the warrior suggested as the stunned prince turned to face her stiffly, reeling from the speed at which the match finished.

“Indeed, Ravus,” the Queen’s tone indicated _I absolutely do not want to hear any opposition_. “I remember your tutor has given you an assignment to finish before he returns. Perhaps now would be a good time to complete it, given you have had your exercise.”.

With that, Ravus bid a (reluctant) farewell, promising to bring Luna to her attendants. Uma then followed Sylva while wheeling Noctis. They travelled through the spacious white hallways and garden paths to reach a pavilion. The table had already been laden with delicately made treats and a pot of sweet-smelling tea.

Uma inwardly balked, because once again…food.

If she had still been human, she would have been able to appreciate the exquisitely prepared delicacies. Alas, it was not so.

The Queen played the gracious host, pouring tea for them and telling Noctis to “Try these cakes. I’ve heard you haven’t tried them yet”. Combined with the cool breeze and scent of flowers from the garden, the scene would have made for a beautiful potrait of an idyllic afternoon.

“Now Uma, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”. The warrior straightened upon hearing the Queen address her after making sure Noctis was eating properly. “ I have been in the business of creating documents so that the both of you have an easier time passing through the checkpoints. I’d want to ask if you had any special requests?”.

That was a good question. Uma put down the cup that had been midway to her mouth.

“I use my own name, but Noct needs a…fake name,” She started. “I’ve heard, his home is…very protected. If the empire can…take him away, and In…somia hasn’t fall—fell, it means that there are agents in city.”.

Sylva nodded, solemn. “That was the same conclusion I came too after hearing the story from Noctis. It is likely that they have spies in the higher echelons for them to be able to carry out such a task successfully. This shall be done, for it is for the best. Do you have a family name in mind?”.

Uma shook her head. The raven-haired prince took this moment to voice his worry. “Will—Queen Sylva, will my father be in danger? From those who kidnapped me?”.

Sylva gave Noctis a reassuring smile, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Your Father is a wise man. Though the traitor might stand close to him, he has many people loyal to him as well. This person, whoever he may be, will not take down your father easily.”.

“The first thing…bring Noct back home,” Uma agreed.

“It will be difficult. I wish we could provide more assistance with this venture,” the Queen sighed heavily. “However, we simply do not have the means to contact Lucis without alerting the Empire. And news from Lucis is hard to come by in this Manor.”.

There was a moment of silence as the information sank in. The warm sunlight and scent of flowers could do nothing to brighten the sombre mood within the pavilion. It was nothing new that the Tenebrae royalty were rulers in name only. The Empire could easily seize the Queen and her children if they wished.

As much as Uma would’ve liked to tear off the Empire’s hold on it’s citizens and all the nations under its thumb, the best thing they could do now was to iron out the plans for transporting Noctis back to Lucis’s capital. After some contemplation, Uma said, “Make me Noct’s elder sister. Half-siblings. We have a father in Tenebrae—my mother came from the borders between Niflheim and Tenebrae, while his next wife—Noct’s mother was Tenebraen. We’ll go by the family name Tolmao.”.

For a moment, Uma thought Sylva would choke on her tea. Instead, the Queen delicately sipped her cup, the widening of her eyes the only thing to betray her surprise. Noctis, on the other hand, dropped his jaw.

“Well,” Sylva took a breath as she lowered her tea. “Perhaps that would do. Tolmao though…it can pass for Tenebraen. Several family names from Niflheim have been spread to Tenebrae, given our history of being under the Empire’s rule.”.

“You took that name off your dictionary,” The eight year old was unable to stop himself from griping. Uma raised an eyebrow at his tone.

“Noct Tolmao,” she intoned in a deadpan voice.

The young prince made a face back at his protector. Queen Sylva chuckled.

The rest of the meeting in the garden passed pleasantly amidst birdsong and Tenebraen blossoms.

* * *

  
_To the Oracle,_

_By the order of his Radiance, we seek your cooperation in recovering a person of vital importance. We expect that Tenebrae would have no qualms about organising the logistics for the inspection…_

“Mother, what have you called us here for?” Lunafreya asked once she reached the hall, wheeling Noctis in. Though the younger boy had recovered much of his walking ability, it would have taken too long to reach her mother without the wheelchair.

Ravus and Uma were in the same room, dressed in their training gear. It was apparent they had been in the midst of another sparring session. Still, the disgruntled expressions from her children vanished soon enough upon registering the number of guards present in the room.

“Niflheim has demanded that I cooperate in a retrieval of Prince Noctis,” Sylva stated simply.

A look of horror flashed across the two youngest occupants of the room. A sharp intake of breath could be heard from the guards who had not been privy to contents of the letter.

Ravus was the first to react. “We cannot possibly comply with such a demand!”.

“Indeed,” she smiled grimly. “Of course, we cannot possibly hand them the person they seek if they are not to be found in Tenebrae.”.

A glance to the Uma revealed a hard face that understood. The woman nodded curtly. “Your majesty, we will leave, soon as possible.”.

“Marco, make preparations that they are not seen in the premises. I need all traces of their stay here erased. Send someone to ready their belongings for their departure.”.

“It will be done, your majesty.”.

In minutes, Fenestela manor was in a flurry of preparation. Guards and servants hastened to complete their assignments. Noctis and Uma were sent to pack their things.

Hours later, a harried messenger had come by bearing the news that a Niflheim official would be arriving at the manor soon and in person. Queen Sylva had never felt a greater urge to curse at that moment.

Fortunately, the duo were ready to go, having finished packing and a briefed on meeting their contact at Succarpe. The royal family was in the midst of saying goodbye to the Prince.

“Take this notebook with you when you go!” her daughter insisted as she pushed a red book into the raven-haired boy’s hands. “Write something in it and send it back. Please!”.  
Uma hastily hoisted him, forcing the prince to utter a hurried, “Sure! I promise! How will I send it back?”.

At that moment, a black blur darted between their legs, stopping in front of Uma. Umbra bounded in front of the warrior, blocking all her attempts to sidestep him. Sylva cleared her throat as the frustrated woman looked just a second away from actually kicking the canine. “It seems that Umbra has decided to accompany the both of you.” At the duo’s looks of disbelief, she added. “Let him deliver the notebook. He has his ways as a Messenger.”.

Uma’s face relaxed somewhat. “Right…your Majesty, Prince Ravus, Princess Lunafreya…goodbye.”.

“Bye Luna! Bye Ravus—and Sylva!” the prince called out as he was carried away down the secret passageway that was their escape route.

The manservants wasted no time in sealing the entrance, closing it and pushing a heavy bookshelf in its place.

“May the Astrals give them their protection,” Queen Sylva whispered, staring at the spot where the passageway had been. Lunafreya sniffled beside her, while Ravus put a comforting hand on his little sister’s head.

“I’m sure they will, mother,” her son said.

A patter of feet reached them. The Queen had guessed the news before the messenger made his report. “Have the Empire’s officials arrived?”.

“Yes, your Majesty. They’ve already entered the front gate. There are twenty Imperial soldiers with him. No MTs.”.

“Then let us greet them,” the Queen said as she swept past, her guards in close proximity. The official was all too easy to identify with the bright red and gold garb, as well as the obnoxious flag they decided to bring in as well.

“Queen Sylva!” the official was quick to call out haughtily. “I am Commander Ulldor, here to conduct the inspection for our lost property—“.

“I have already been informed of the Empire’s agenda,” the monarch interrupted him icily. Spreading her hands, she added, “There is no need to worry, we shall cooperate in this venture. Tenebrae has nothing to hide from Niflheim.”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I have to apologize for this seriously late update. The other piece of bad news is that assignment deadlines are coming, therefore updates are going to come more slowly. 
> 
> The previous 'update' was the result of thinking I could get some editing done at 3am and mistaking the 'post' button for the 'save without posting button'...take it from me and don't make the same mistake! To those who've persevered through the jumbled mess that was my draft, thank you! I'll avoid doing that in the future--lesson learnt!
> 
> Yeap, so the two have gone to Tenebrae. Noctis has to go there to get his back healed and meet Luna after all. Things won't end up the same as it did with King Regis though. (Which is glaringly obvious...pfft)
> 
> On another note, thank you all who have read, commented and gave kudos! I honestly never expected this to get this much popularity because this is a gen fic and its a crossover. Thanks for letting me know that your enjoying this!


	5. Trial of a Cursed Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mastermind catches up to them.

Their journey from Fenestela manor returned to the routine of hiding out and resting during the day and dashing to cover as much distance during the night. Avoiding the lights of patrolling ships and seeking out havens.

Uma sprinted across the dark plains with Noctis in her arms, their dark furry guide occassionally appearing in front of them. They had crossed Cartanica today. One more night, and they would reach the contact point at Succarpe soon.

They needed to get out of this continent fast. The number of magitek troops deployed from Tenebrae to Cartanica had been the greatest number yet. Even with Umbra's lead, they had been chanced upon by search parties several times. Noctis no longer dared to sleep in the day, forcing his eyes open until he inevitably fell into a deep exhausted slumber. Uma had more luck staying alert, taking brief naps and moving them away upon detecting magitek in the vicinity of their hideout.

 _One more night_ , Uma reminded her waning determination. _One more night and you’ll be out of their land._

 In the distance, a glowing blue speck revealed itself to be a ground carved with luminous symbols as she neared it. The warrior slowed, halting. She just remembered to twist to her side to prevent herself from collapsing onto her charge, falling onto the blue runes with the boy atop her with a solid _thunk._

“Uma?!” . She had woken up Noctis.

“ ‘m alright…” she assured him, though tiredly. “Just needed…a rest.”. She waved haphazardly to make her point.

The boy heaved a sigh of relief, propping himself up and sliding off her. The warrior heaved in the crisp night air, waiting for her body to cool off from its extended exertion. The black pup manifested and proceeded to plop on his furry behind, leaning against her torso.

They stayed like that in runes until a small voice trembled out, “Uma…why did you save me?”

The warrior cracked an eye open in surprise.

“Why…ask?” she forced out, once her words returned.

The boy shifted, eyes hidden in the shadows cast over his face. “You could get killed. With me. The empire’s chasing you because of me, and the guards at Fenestela Manor could have killed you. It’s all… _my fault_.”

The last two words took on the edge a sob. Tracks glistened on his face under the moonlight. Umbra whined and wiggled over her belly to the child.

 _All his fault?_ Where had Noctis come up with that idea?

“Do you actually think I’m so weak that protecting you is a death sentence?”. Uma wanted to yell while shaking the little idiot furiously.

“No…No yours,” she disagreed frantically instead, completely forgetting her two weeks’ worth of lessons. Noctis shouldn’t carry the weight of the actions of the Empire. Leaving him behind to die would take away the new purpose in life she had chosen. It would cause so much heartbreak for those who waited for him.

She had to let him know all of that.

_‘I may have wished for this to happen…’_

* * *

 

In a flash, the warrior had rolled upright, sword ready and alert.

“U-uma?” Noctis warbled, surprise colouring his tear-streaked face. It took on a look of fear seeing the wide eyes and trembling lips of his protector.

She registered the Messenger taking his position in front of Noctis, staring intensely at the darkness that she faced.

 _What is this? This isn’t yoki, but this oppressive aura…why does it feel like its vast like a roiling sea--?_  Uma inhaled a deep breath to steady her nerves, though her body seemed to still scream of danger, telling her to flee, to run--.

“Oh my, apologies for disturbing your rest.”.

Uma shoved Noctis behind her and swung her claymore towards the source of the voice. A tall figure shrouded in a coat stood within the shadows of the night. Two amber orbs glowed in the darkness.

 _That’s--! No, it couldn’t be. I don’t sense any yoki. It has to be a demon._ Despite that conclusion, the dark figure possessing those bright yellow eyes shifted, taking the forms of a black warrior awakening into an abyssal, the flitting figure of a winged one-horned monster. The stench of yoma and warrior blood—

No. They were just the ghosts of past battles her mind couldn't forget.

At this moment, the clouds that had covered the night sky dispersed. Moonlight streamed down, illuminating the plains, as well as the being that stood before them.

The other party tipped the hat on his head, revealing a distinctly human face of a man in his forties with a head of maroon hair. A smile that was far from sincere. The middle-aged man continued as he began to step towards them, eyes scanning the party of three “Mayhap you would entertain my curiosity? I’ve been wondering this for a long, long time…”.

His long coat swished as he came to a stop before the border of the Haven, “What helped you come this far, my dear?”.

Uma fought to keep a still face under the full weight of the man’s amber gaze. Silence reigned in the frozen air.

The man snorted and turned his head away. “Well, foolish question. You’ve evaded the greatest army on Eos by doing the most unexpected, of course—by braving the wilds in the darkness!”. He resumed his walk, circling slowly around the perimeter of the glowing runes. “Still, one must ponder what could have helped a crippled child and experimental fodder survive the nights where the demons prowl about. Certainly not that little godling guide you have.”.

The warrior felt a chill.

 _He’s baiting us. Trying to get us answers._ The Queen and her children flashed across her mind. The Glacian.

Uma’s impassive face revealed nothing.

“No matter.”. A melodramatic sigh. “They were expected all along after all, but _you,”_ the man slows his last step, shadows lengthening across his face as his eyes settled on Uma. “You are an _uninvited guest.”_

* * *

 Uma disappeared.

Silver flashed. Steel bit thickly into flesh.

The body tore off the blade with the force of the swing, flying back and landing on the ground with a sickening thunk.

Noctis watched Uma with wide eyes, not daring to breathe. The warrior still stood in anticipation, claymore raised, silver eyes never leaving the fallen figure.

The sound of clapping broke the tension.

Warrior and child whirled around to see the man standing far too close to the Haven, gloved hands together as if he had simply been another spectator that had witnessed the attack that s _hould have killed him_.

“Therein lies the answer!” the red-haired stranger stated with a hint of amusement. “An impressive show of strength, my dear. Though it would do you no good. What a pity.”.

The ground erupted before the man in mid-pose. Uma’s back faced Noctis, placing herself in front of the man. She brought down the sword one more time.

Another sound of slicing flesh. A limb flew off into the night.

And still there was no howl of pain. No body that collapsed. Noctis watched the back of his protector take a half step back.

“Let’s cease this meaningless struggle,” the boredom in their opponent’s deep voice was barely hidden. “Take care now, I seek not the boy’s life, but yours. Why throw your life away so easily? It won’t be doing him any favours.”.

Uma’s answer was a growl as she leapt back. Noctis registered a tug on his collar before falling on the ground with his protector beside him. Black fire blazed where the blonde woman had stood earlier.

“Uma!” Fear was a sharp knife that stabbed his heart as the weight of the man’s words sank in. Noctis looked wide-eyed at the woman, caught between telling her to run away…

…And being abandoned.

“Don’t step out!” the warrior roared. The next instant, she had reappeared outside the haven, deploying a swift series of strikes with her claymore.

The exchange between the two was fierce and swift. Far too quick for humans. More like two forces of nature, twisting, colliding, damaging everything caught in their wake.

“Look well now, Prince Noctis!” the man called out, voice far too merry for his predicament. “Your shield may possess some ability, but this amount of strength—” steel pierced through his face with a burst of black miasma. His head of red hair jerked, sliding off the blade as he did a half twirl to meet eye-to-eye with his enraged opponent.

“Shut up!!”.

“—is too small to let her survive me. Truly a pity. If she hadn’t met you—her end would have been kinder, wouldn’t you agree?” his voice dropped, and a smirk danced across his lips.

“LIES!” the blonde screamed back as she followed up her pursuit with another slash. “Don’t listen! Noctis! Stay in haven!”.

It was too late. The seed of doubt had already been planted in the young boy’s mind.

Miss Hortis and the Crownsguard wouldn’t have died if they hadn’t been with him when the Marilith attacked.

The Niflheim Empire wouldn’t have pursued Uma if she didn’t carry Noctis with her.

Niflheim wouldn’t have investigated Luna, Ravus and Queen Sylva if his presence hadn’t forced Uma to flee there.

 _‘Look at you, little prince,’_ _The scientist grinned sickeningly as his hands continued to violate him. ‘It’s not my fault, you know. You’ve tempted the Empire with your magic, and now you’ve tempted me. Heard of taking responsibility? Yes, that’s what you have to do now.’._

A whistle.

Umbra barked and leapt in front of him.

A blood-red flash.

The pup spiraled away as the light struck.

Beyond him, Uma fell.

Noctis stared in shock as his companion, his protector collapsed in slow motion.

A glowing red sword impaled through her chest.

* * *

 

Her opponent liked to use a combination of split-second kicks and daemonic magic.

Still, Uma hadn’t been a warrior for nothing. There was a simple trick to overcome the inability to accurately predict the moves of an opponent that emitted no yoki.

A technique possessed by Clare—more accurately, developed by the former number five, Rafaela.

It involved concentrating a field of Yoki around the body. Disruptions in the field caused by an opponent’s movements would give the warrior a startlingly accurate sense of the incoming attacks, allowing for precise movement and reaction to counter attacks from all directions.

The warrior released the yoki she had kept tightly leashed.

Her opponent faltered slightly at the sudden pulse of energy.

_Two attacks coming from the right, and one coming from above._

In a split second, she had stepped aside, following up with a rush to stab the man in the coat.

Steel bit into his chest. Once again, no blood came out. Only black smoke.

The man made a soft sound of surprise. Luminous golden eyes met slit pupils encased in irises of identical colour.

“How curious. You are certainly not a daemon, yet you share their traits…enough to compare with our best magitek armour, I’d say, ” he mused, seemingly ignorant of the blade stuck in him. “It would be a waste if you truly are the product of Besithia’s talent. I’d have to ask him about you after this show’s over.”.

Uma unrepentantly slashed him horizontally.

_God, he doesn’t die! It’s like fighting Priscilla—all alone!_

_Every strike I make feels like its going to be returned tenfold!_

_Shit!_

The warrior was crystal clear that she was outmatched.

Her heart pumped faster, her moves beginning to fumble as the man sped up his offense. The calm that she had honed over the years was giving in to terror as the match drew on, her opponent giving no indication of wearing down.

Five slashes. Six slashes. Ten. Twenty. No matter how much she eviscerated him, the dark miasma would coagulate and reform her grinning foe.

All of a sudden, the warrior’s senses screamed. Something had literally appeared out of nowhere, its presence a sudden existence in her field of yoki.

In a desperate swing, a flash of red light struck hastily raised steel, sending tremors in Uma’s arms. Batting it away into the night.

_What was that? That was different—_

A second red glow appeared in her chest and there was nothing but a feeling of being _ripped apart._

* * *

 Red sprayed out from Uma’s body. The warrior tottered unsteadily before crumpling to the ground like a broken doll.

“UMA!”.

He screamed before he registered it, hands outstretched towards his fallen guardian in an attempt to reach her. But his legs were too weak to let him stand, dragging behind him as he pulled himself across the ruins blindly.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”. The prince looked up upon hearing the lilting voice.  Uma’s killer smirked before him, unruffled after the fierce exchange before. “Your guardian told you to stay within the runes. Would you be so heartless to waste away a dead woman’s sacrifice?”.

Dead.

Uma’s dead.

The boy could only stare helplessly at the eyes of the monster before him.

He couldn’t make it far by himself with his useless legs. The monster in the coat couldn’t catch him within the haven, but the Niflheim soldiers would find him soon enough when daylight came.

He was going to die too.

A horrible sound shocked him, only to realize that it came from himself. Tears spilled down freely down his cheeks, a wail tearing out from his throat. Noctis never liked crying. He didn’t cry.

But he cried for the last time in his life. Out of fear. For Umbra. For Uma. For Miss Hortis. For the pain he endured. For never seeing his dad again.

The monster’s face split into a demonic grin, deep chuckling rising up from his chest. The chuckling turned to laughter, becoming more manic as he went on.

“Take a look at him!” the man flung his hands apart, cackling to the sky. “You pinned all your hopes on a snivelling little child! Come on! Save him! Or I shall follow the wrong you did and take him myself! I will go hard, and I will better what you’ve done to me! Let’s see if your Chosen One can fulfill the prophecy by then!”.

The sky remained unchanged, the Messenger remained soundless, but that did not falter the man. Noctis jerked back as the monster unhesitatingly stepped a booted foot into the haven, ignoring the crackling and burning as the blue light hit him. A gloved hand grabbed the boy’s shirt and jerked him roughly in a clawed grip. Terrified blue eyes met unnatural golden ones.

“What a pity. It seems the gods have abandoned you as well,” the man tilted his head, allowing the moonlight to illuminate his face. Showing him a ghastly bone-white face, dark miasma oozing out of demonic eyes and mouth.

“Well then, let’s get back to where you belong, shall we?”.

* * *

  _“Why did you go that far?” Uma roared at what remained of Cynthia, tears rolling down her cheeks. “If you hadn’t shielded me, this wouldn’t have…you wouldn’t have…!”._

_Ever gentle and selfless Cynthia eyed her, her gaze devoid of judgment even when so much of her body was torn off by the newly awakened abyssal one. Uma knew she had been the weakest while Cynthia was the master at yoki synchronization, second in rank among the Seven Ghosts after Captain Miria. Why did she have to die to protect Uma, the weakest of them all and the one most likely to die anyway?_

_She wasn’t worthy of such a sacrifice!_

_“I’m sorry, this is how I am. My body moves before I think…” the senior warrior stopped midway._

_“No…that’s not it. I may have wished for this to happen,” Cynthia amended. She took another shallow breath, blood spurting out from the stumps where her limbs had been._

_“Seven years ago…I wasn’t able to protect Captain Veronica,” the other warrior exhaled as she reminisced the battle that the two knew too well. “Though she was captain, our rank only differed by one. We were supposed to pull the whole unit together and yet…”._

_“My captain died—and I survived, without landing a hit on our opponent.”._

_“After that…I was just seeking a place to die…”._

_“Would you kill me, Uma? My thoughts are becoming muddled…I fear I will go berserk and awaken soon from the pain…I don’t want to become a monster—“._

_...Why did Cynthia’s words sound so much like her own?_

_Sometimes, she thought the others would be better off if she died. Then they wouldn’t have to pull her—a dead weight._

_But she had lost too many sisters. She didn't want to lose another one.  
_

The warrior’s hazy vision registered the man stepping into the barrier and grabbing the helpless boy.

_“Stop…stop that nonsense,” Uma choked out, still ever prone to tears like the child she had been. “To see your comrades die right before your eyes…”_

_She heaved sharply, the yoki spiking within her as she prepared to control it—going for that one attempt to save her friend._

Energy began to thrum in her body once more. Her flesh buzzed, healing, repairing, growing.

_“Do you think that you’re the only one who finds it painful?!”._

How could she do the same to Noctis?

It would be too heartless, even for a coward.

He had nobody else.

Yoki roared through her veins.

* * *

A gust of wind whooshed through the night air.

The red-haired man’s eyes widened a fraction as a shadow loomed across him. The air filled with an unfamiliar buzz. The next thing Noctis knew, he had been dropped roughly onto the ground.

A guttural roar resounded as the Prince turned his terrified eyes upwards where his captor had been.

Instead, a hulking, giant figure stood in his place, golden eyes glowing in the dark. A grotesque face with the enlarged fangs of a predator.

The creature bellowed again and turned, back facing Noctis. Pale hair fell down its back, its gigantic claws gripping a huge slab of metal.

The prince’s heart skipped a beat when he realized he recognized that back.

Meanwhile, the dark mass that his captor had burst into gathered once again. The creature raised its arm wielding the claymore. The buzz sounded in the air once more as the weapon vanished.

The dark mass disappeared. Seconds later, it appeared at another point of the haven. The creature was too fast for it, appearing behind it and flashing its sword.

Again and again.

Each time the miasma was hacked to pieces, it took longer and longer to reform. The fifth time the creature made quick work of the daemon, the two survivors waited for the daemon to appear with bated breath.

The night air was silent, the sky was still. Not a whisper from the grassy plains.

Something cool touched Noctis’s throat.

“Over here, my dear!” the daemon’s sing-song voice sounded right beside the boy’s ear.

_How did he get there?!_

 The creature was visibly enraged, screeching and ready to pounce forward if not for the daemon’s tightening hold on the helpless prince.

“Now, let us _please_ have a civilized conversation! I can’t speak when you’re swinging that slab of metal around, can I? I suggest you hold that arm for now, unless you wish to see Prince Noctis here with a new hole on his throat,” the daemon’s voice was long-suffering, adding a dramatic sigh for effect.

Glowing eyes blazed and the blonde-haired creature visibly shook with rage. Noctis gulped, feeling the body of his captor become positively icy, a strange scent that reminded him of rot filling the air.

None of them moved a hair.

“I am truly surprised. No daemon should be able to survive that blade, or be immune to my control,” Noctis’s captor mused. “You should most certainly be dead—yet you’re here, stronger than ever. Still, it seems your time as a human will end soon enough at this rate.”.

The creature growled.

“Take a look, Prince Noctis,” the rough hand on his face forced the prince to look at the hulking creature before him. “Look at what your loyal protector has done to save you. She turned into a monster… _for you.”._

The boy couldn’t even recognize his own cracking whisper. “…Uma.”.

The daemon behind him seemed to relish at his despair, speaking more excitedly, “Who is to blame? Her? The Empire? How about…you?”.

Noctis couldn’t see anything as his vision blurred again. Uma was back. Uma was a monster because she tried to save him.

He whimpered, sobs starting anew. He could no longer keep his eyes open, on the cusp of bawling uncontrollably.

It was all his fault.

His fault.

“…Stop the mind games.”.

The familiar, feminine voice made the boy’s breath hitch. The daemon’s grip on him loosened. Noctis reopened his eyes, not daring to believe what he saw before him.

The pale-haired woman stood before them, claymore in hand. Everything save for her ripped jacket dyed in blood belied the fatal injury she had taken. Her eyes glowed coldly on her fully human face. Uma spoke her next words quietly.

“You done?”.

The daemon chuckled, still keeping a loose grip on Noctis, “My my my, you have exceeded all my expectations…I think you’ll do very nicely in the scheme of things.”.

Noctis took the opportunity to elbow the crazy freak in the face and crawl at the fastest speed in his life. The warrior was at his side in a moment, shielding him from his captor who had surprisingly, done nothing to hold him back.

The daemon had reverted to his human-looking face as well—once again simply a flamboyantly dressed middle-aged man. He stood up, the ever-present smirk still on his face. Something boiled within the young boy’s chest. Hatred, like he had never felt before.

The maroon haired man gave a needlessly deep bow, stepping aside and gesturing to the plains. “You pass, my dear. Now you are free to escort the royal home as you please.”.

“Wait,” Uma's voice was dangerously flat. “Why?”.

“Why?” the man exclaimed, clutching his heart as if it actually hurt. “You couldn’t have expected me to play such a dirty trick as to burn down your hopes after you’ve fought death for them!”.

“Why?”.

“Call it a personal interest to see how far you can go.”.

“Why?”.

Noctis swore that the jester looked a moment away from stomping his feet.

“Stubborn woman,” he sighed. “If you truly wish to know, I don’t care whether the prince runs back to daddy’s safe palace or ends up being a toy for the Niflheim nobility. It doesn’t change the fact that _I will get what I want in the end_ , my dear.”.

Uma’s claymore had raised slightly at the threatening tone at the end. The man reverted back to his falsely amicable demeanor.

“Well then off you go,” he waved a hand as he turned to leave. “Do not worry, the daemons shan’t bother you anymore on your trip out of this continent. Safe travels!”.

The next moment, he had vanished. No magical light, no movement of air signalling his departure.

* * *

 The daemon-man-monster was true to his word. No daemons appeared for the remainder of their escape across the wilderness.

There was some peace now that they were on a boat on the way to Lucian lands. The boat rocked as it travelled through the waves under the guidance of their smuggler. The cabin was packed with other silent, blanked faced refugees. Uma leaned against the wall where they were squished against, eyes closed, a limp black pup bound in makeshift cloths in one arm. Noctis’s head pillowed on her front as the both of them tried to get some rest after the ordeal of their crossing.

Noctis spoke even less after their close encounter with the daemon yesterday, no doubt deeply traumatized by her near-death. She had to have this conversation before it was too late.

“Noctis.”.

The boy shifted sluggishly to face her, eyes puffy from a mix of lack of sleep and tears shed. “Yeah?” he whispered.

Uma couldn’t stop herself from placing a hand on his head and stroking the raven locks to try to comfort him. “You asked me…why I save you.”.

The scared, crushed expression stayed on the prince’s face. Uma took a deep breath and started her own story, “I’m saving myself…--sav—by saving you.”.

“I was strong, I can break free…but I was always too scared. I didn’t stop…the scientists from killing the others like me…”.

“They took me in when I was your age…it took me so long to fight back…”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I'm back. I wish I can update more frequently but life isn't exactly letting me enjoy my break. I'll still strive to get this finished this year.
> 
> Once again thank y'all for reading this and staying with me! If you have suggestions on what I can improve on feel free to comment.
> 
> Notes:  
> Yoki synchronization: A skill essential to manipulate yoki. The user analyzes the target's yoki (From a fellow warrior, yoma or awakened being) and then aligns wavelength of their own yoki to target's yoki. This allows the user to manipulate the opponents yoki flow and in turn, their movements. It can be used to increase or reduce yoki flow to help other claymores to regenerate from fatal injuries that are beyond their ability to heal from. Other applications include 'pulling back' fellow warriors from over-releasing their yoki and awakening, as well as redirecting attacks from opponents.
> 
> Awakening: The process where claymores turn into awakened beings when they release their yoki beyond the limit. Ardyn was referring to this when he mentioned that Uma's time as a human would soon be over, though he doesn't know what is truly happening to the warrior. The daemons within him can probably sense it though.
> 
> For other terminologies regarding Claymores go back to notes in the first chapter.


	6. The bearer of the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A seemingly ordinary day full of mishaps leads to a discovery that could change everything.

It had taken a long time, but Noctis felt more like his old self again. Wind blew through the open windows of their repurposed beetle car as it rumbled across the Duscaen road. The rising sun illuminated the great stone arches that towered above the sprawling green plains and lakes.

“We can predict a sunny afternoon with some light showers near the evening today. On another note, we have news that ferocious daemons are still running about in Myrlwood. Nature-lovers and hikers, as much as I’d hate to cancel a trip, safety comes first…”.

 Uma turned down the volume of the radio as the broadcaster changed to some advertisement for a holiday getaway at Galdin Quay.

Two months had passed ever since they managed to set afoot on Lucian lands. Though the Empire’s influence was everywhere, their forces were spread more thinly and it was too easy to blend in as an orphaned child raised by his older sibling who worked as a hunter—a common sight in the outlands of Lucis.

Umbra had stayed with them as he recovered, getting into trouble once he was able to get to his feet.  The pup had been a welcome addition, allowing Noctis to cuddle him on days where bad memories resurfaced and leaning against Uma whenever the warrior was the only one awake in the nights while other humans slumbered.

But one day, he disappeared.

“He’s a Messenger, so we’ll meet again someday, right?” the prince said after a bout of tears. His guardian nodded and wiped his face with a cloth.

“The notebook must be with him. He’ll bring it back to you someday.”.

Back in the car, Noctis stretched and gave a gigantic yawn. Uma huffed in amusement. She had woken him up at ungodly hour of four in the morning to make the trip for a bounty hunt in Myrlwood. “ ‘s not funny,” the boy whined. “You’re the one who only needs to sleep once every three days!”.

“Have to reach there before midday. The daemons will disappear,” the blonde argued, much more eloquent than she had been months ago. Noticing Noct’s grouchy expression, she stuttered in a mix of panic and indignance. “We need the gil to get into Leide!”.

“I know that! I was kidding!” Inwardly, Noctis thought that travelling through the world outside the wall with Uma wasn’t bad. It was much so much bigger than his books could ever make him comprehend. He had seen the sun rise on a different landscape every day, the plains and hills and forests below him as his guardian raced across the land. He’d been in a blizzard, travelled across the ocean and ate a day’s catch under a sky full of stars next to the coast they had fished in.

But at every step of the way, they had to stay ahead of the Empire's search parties, never staying at one place for long. It was impossible to form friendships with other refugees without arousing their interest to pry into their identities. There were days where they camped out in a damp shed or tent, and Uma was always keeping a silent vigil whenever Noctis awoke from a restless sleep, both too wary to get actual rest.

There was no other option. They had to get home.

“…we have enough to stay at Lestallum once finish this mission,” his guardian continued, seemingly unaware of his thoughts.

Actual beds, meat skewers, getting their clothes washed—oh,that was enough to make the sleep-deprived prince brighten up.

The car jerked as a whoot sounded, followed by a shriek, “Noct! I’m driving!”.

* * *

 “But the contrac—“.

“Sorry miss, but the daemons are gone now. I hate it when paperwork gets screwed up like this too, but the extermination’s completed,” the ranger cut her off. Uma was left mouth gaping, unable to make an indignant comeback.

 With nothing to hunt, the two made their way to the nearest tipster. The only job that wasn’t taken was a request back at Wiz’s Chocobo Post.

Uma kissed her plans goodbye.

_How dare they make a liar out of me!_

Unfortunately, the warrior had soon learned that mixed-up paperwork and stealing bounties happened often in this line of work. Even without that nonsense, plenty other unforeseen circumstances could easily render a hunter void of his job. Such was the unstable nature of this career.

Moodily, Uma drove them back to where the duo spent most of their time residing—the Duscaen countryside. Endless wildlands, the smallest human population and the least amount of ground patrols, it was a haven for the two.

That didn’t make her feel any less guilty about raising her charge’s hopes though.

“Sorry…”.

“It’s okay,” Noctis replied. “Camping isn’t that bad.”.

* * *

 The owner of the Chocobo Post met them at the gate of his property.

“I didn’t think that you would come so quickly! I’ve just put up the request today,” Wiz Forlane mused. A couple of baby birds were currently circling Noctis, much to the child’s delight.

_The only reason I would take a request with no mission information and little reward is because the gold I was supposed to get today isn’t coming!_

“Well, what do you need me to do?” the warrior’s unflappable demeanour masked the clawing irritation under her skin.

“About that, I’m hoping to help me find a person,” the ranch owner turned towards the woodlands. “I have a fellow who lives in the wood and comes down here at least a few times a week for his goods and a chat. The thing is, this makes the second week since he’s last come down here. He’s an old man, keeps mostly to himself. I help him buy some stuff from the outposts since he has no car to drive there. His name is Druth.”.

“No last name?”. In the background, Uma wondered how an old man managed to live as a hermit in the wilds. It wasn’t uncommon back in The Continent with the threat of yoma, but with the daemons tendency to appear out of nowhere, living alone in an area with no known havens was unheard of.

“No, he hasn’t mentioned any, no,” Wiz shook his head. “Could you go up to where he stays and see if he’s there? I’d go myself, but it’s been too long since I’ve shot a daemon.”.

“That’ll be no problem,” she paused. “What if he’s dead?”.

“Well…” an almost indiscernible look flashed across his face. “It’ll be good to know at least. And getting him buried is the least I can do.”.

* * *

 “So where are we going?” Noctis asked as Uma lead the Chocobo they had hired. The warrior had been visibly reluctant to hand over the gil for the bird. Still, when the eight-year old said he would walk, she had insisted that she trusted the bird to get him to safety more than he did on his own should a surprise attack occur.

“An old Lucian armoury. Mr Druth stays there.”. Uma answered as she scanned their surroundings. It was fortunate that the ever-present fog in the wood was absent. Noctis inwardly shuddered at the thought of walking through this place when he couldn’t see his fingers in front of his face.

“Why is Mr Druth staying at the armoury then? It‘s empty. Lucis’s army went back to the city when the wall shrank.”.

“Don’t know. He never told Wiz why he chose to live there alone. Maybe he’s hiding,” the warrior replied offhandedly.

“Then what’s he hiding from?”. Noctis’s question went ignored as his guardian seemed preoccupied with leading them to the old man’s home.

The walls of the abandoned compound still stood strong, prompting Uma to remove Noctis from their bird and leap over. The Chocobo was capable enough to scale the wall itself. Ruins greeted them. Native vegetation covered the ground, snaking across the faded buildings that showed obvious signs of past bombing. Water dripped from a rusted pipe running across the walls.

This didn’t seem like a place an old man should stay.

 “Hello? Mr Druth?” Uma called. “I’m a hunter sent by Wiz Forlane from the Chocobo Post!”.

Her voice echoed in the empty courtyard. The chocobo shifted. A breeze rustled the grass. No one answered.

“…Maybe he isn’t here?” Noctis ventured a guess. The warrior crossed her arms, proceeding to circle around the area. Noctis and the Chocobo trailed after her, taking glimpses of the place around.

Eventually, they reached a building that had visibly fewer signs of damage than others. Uma halted before the closed door, eyes narrowing. She stared at it with such intensity that the Chocobo decided to take a few steps back.

Something clattered behind the door.

In a split second, the blonde was gone, the door swinging open where she barrelled through. A stunned Noctis shook himself out of his stupor and ran inside as well.

“Are you okay?!” Uma yelled as she visibly wrestled someone from a loop formed by twisted fabric connected to the ceiling and wound around his neck. A stool lay on the floor. Noctis gasped. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened.

The man thrashed, hacking and snarling. “Let me go! Let me go! I know who you are! Don’t think about taking me back!” Noctis’s guardian released him once she was sure he wouldn’t break a leg falling to the ground.

The old man scrambled to a drawer near the door, grabbed something and whipped it to Uma’s face, a crazed look in his eyes. His wrinkled hands trembled with the gun unsteadily.

“There’s no use in capturing or killing me, Imperial. Niflheim is a lost cause. All of you will see it soon enough!” he spat, pulling the trigger.

“No!” Noctis screamed.

A bang. The bullet embedded itself into the wall.

Uma held the nozzle of the gun out of the old man’s reach, her other hand gripping his wrist. “I’m all right, Noct.”.

“…”.

The prince glared in response to her nonchalant tone.

Meanwhile, her attacker’s mouth gaped, the anger in his rheumy eyes was replaced with fear. He stuttered, trying to remove himself from her grip. Then his eyes landed on her wrist and stopped.

“T-this…” he started and the duo’s eyes followed his other rising hand as halted at the black barcode tattooed on Uma’s wrist. “You’re from their experiments, aren’t you?”.

Stunned silence filled the room. Uma’s grip slackened.

“…Yes.”.

“Oh six, oh six oh six…” the old man muttered half-incoherently as his thin hands came up to cover his gaunt face. Then his eyes landed on Noctis and seemed to register him for the first time.

“Mr Druth?”.

Druth took a shuddering breath to calm his nerves. “Well, it’s been ten years…or was it nine? Since I’ve come across another countryman who had fled the Empire. Here I was thinking an Imperial soldier will get to me first.”.

Noctis stole a look at Uma, recognizing the expression that she had reserved for recalling her own time as an experiment. Her next words were tentative, “Why do you cut off yourself from others completely? There are many others from Niflheim that reside in the towns out there. Is the empire after you…alone?”.

The elder went deathly still. Then, his face twisted into one of fury, whirling around with a hand ready to cuff Uma. “That’s none of your business! You keep your nosy self out of THIS!”.

“Uma!” Noctis shrieked out a warning.

Flames burst under the feet of the two adults.

* * *

 Mr Druth calmed down for good this time.

“That was Lucian magic,” the old man croaked out after a period of awkward silence, holding the flask of tea Uma offered in his hands. The sweet scent somewhat masked the smell of the singed footwear. “Has Niflheim managed to create daemons with Lucian magic yet?”.

Uma stilled. In the background, Noctis fidgeted on his stool as the M-word was mentioned again. She closed her eyes after a moment. “No. They have not.”.

Druth exhaled. “Well, it seems the end of the world will come a little slower then.” It was followed by a bitter laugh.

Uma and Noctis shared a look. It was clear that Druth knew much about the Imperial experiments. Perhaps even more than an escaped person should, though whether they should pry into it was another question.

“The privileged in Niflheim are still strong as ever,” Uma started cautiously. “Won’t they be the survivors once they’ve destroyed all the other countries with their magitek?”.

“Hah!” Druth barked, fierce eyes glinting. “Don’t play me for a fool. Both of you should know that ‘Magitek’ is a cover for daemon weaponry—just a change of terms in order to maintain the faith of the masses in them.”

“You,” he turned to Noctis who shrank back involuntarily, “Whether you’re a clone or the actual blood of the Lucis royals, you must have been part of one of the most classified projects. It’s a wonder that you managed to get out.”. Druth honed on to Uma next, “I’d suppose you had a hand in that. With your speed…you must have been a subject of some project to develop prototype daemons for years—if not your entire life.”.

Uma felt a chill down her spine as all his words hit their mark. “You know a lot.”.

Druth gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “I do,” he took a gulp from the flask, followed by a fit of coughing. “It doesn’t matter now. I’m one foot in the grave anyway.”. He turned up to look at them in the eye. “Endre Bessas.”.

“I’m…sorry?”.

“Professor Endre Bessas,” the old man sighed heavily, “senior research member of the Deathless Project.”

“You’re a scientist of the empire?” Noctis blurted. Then squeaked as he realized his mistake. Uma shot a look to reassure him.

“Was,” Druth, or Endre, corrected. “That’s why the Empire has its eyes out for me.”.

That made sense.

“They’re still looking for you after 9 years? But they’re so powerful now…do they really need to kill you?” the prince ventured.

“To cow other possible defectors. He doesn’t actually have to be a threat,” this time it was Uma who answered, remembering Clare recounting her tale of her saviour, Quicksword Irene. The Organization had been relentless on hunting her down, stopping their search only when they truly believed that she was executed by Rafaela’s sword even after she had lost both of her arms.

Uma faced Endre. “I suppose that’s why you’ve cut off all contact with the outside world. You’re very brave to face all the daemons at night out here.”.

The old man snorted. “The daemons don’t appear in the buildings. That may have been due to traces of Lucian magic used in this armory, though I can’t draw any conclusions. Can’t perform experiments here.”. He muttered his next words under his breath. “Better to die to the daemons than let my escape go to waste. Or kill the world faster by breeding more of them.”.

“But…you were Niflheim, wouldn’t you be safe from them anyway?” Noctis questioned again skeptically, somewhat less unnerved by the ex-researcher. “Can’t the empire control them to not attack their people?”.

“NONSENSE!” the old man laughed harshly, causing the young prince to retreat again. “Granted, they should have improved their engineering of the daemon cores to reduce the probability of their MTs from daemonifying completely in the battlefield. What the Empire doesn’t want everyone else to know about, is that their MT and daemon manufacturing facilities are accelerating the spread of what you call the Starscourge.”.

“The Starscourge? The plague?” Uma clarified.

“Yes, the plague that turns people into daemons.”.

This was Noctis’s turn to be shocked, “Daemons?! T-that...that’s…”. He gaped like a fish at a loss for words. The warrior’s expression was frozen.

“I wouldn’t be shocked if the other countries haven’t caught on that yet. We’ve only discovered it because the project involved using the Starscourge—the plasmodium, to enhance our soldiers. The result was…all those people turned to daemons.”.

Uma slowly clenched her fist. Human experimentation. People turning into daemons.

What a blast from the past.

Endre seemed to be lost in his memories, rambling on regardless of Noctis’s horrified look and Uma’s stony silence. “Then the team found a way to convert the daemons into essence, which provided a power source for the magitek with a far greater capacity and life than we’ve imagined. As you can imagine, our radiant emperor was quick to expand the project, providing all the resources the blasted project needed.” The old man’s voice became smaller as he reached the end. Then he buried his face in his hands.

“It’s just—” Uma jerked at the choked sob, never expecting the old researcher to start shedding tears. “We’ve made a terrible mistake.”.

“Fuck Solheim. Fuck the emperor. We should have shut the entire project down and said it failed,” he wheezed brokenly, sounding angry and devastated at the same time. Noctis leaned forward, hands motioning uselessly. The prince threw a desperate look at his guardian. _What should we do now?!_

Uma started, “Mr Endre—“.

“We started capturing our own countrymen to experiment making different daemons! Then it was the children. I thought that it would all stop after the Imperial Institute of Biological Research perfected the system for mass-production of clones—“.

“I was such a coward,” Endre rasped. His watery eyes flashed up to Uma, full of emotion. “The emperor sanctioned the capture of civilians, starting from the slums, the destitute, then any village and town they could get their hands on. Men, women, children…in order to develop stronger daemons by through genetics”.

The warrior felt something stir in her chest for the old man. There was something that was far too familiar in his voice.

“What about the outbreaks? As if the nobility cared for that. They would pump so much gil into development, but none of it was used to contain the spread of contamination. Mass disappearances of people? Mutations of entire forests? Who cared?”.

“And I—“, he gave a shuddering sigh. “I stayed there, aiding those scum of the earth in spreading their rot.”.

Self-hatred.

Endre gave a crooked, broken smile. “I’m not a good man.”.

* * *

 Thunder boomed. Rain began to fall.

Uma scooped up the fish and cilantro porridge that she had made for lunch, passing them to Noctis and Endre.

After a while, the elder asked, “Don’t you need to eat?”

Noctis eyed his guardian who had been the quietest so far. She shook her head. “I consume much less than normal humans. One portion a day is enough.”.

Endre seemed to still at that, a flash of guilt crossed his face. Noctis had seen that on Uma many times.

Though Uma had acted too late, she was still a good person. She saved her remaining friends, and she saved Noctis.

Mr Endre may have only ran from the empire...but he also had a conscience.

“You’re really brave to get out from the Empire, Mr Endre,” he spoke somewhat timidly, hoping that it didn’t provoke the elder’s anger…or make him feel worse. He didn’t know which one he preferred.

_Great, Noctis, way to go as the crown prince._

“That…may have been the only thing I’ve done right,” the elder muttered. “Though I cannot take complete credit for that. All I did was to agree when a Lucian agent asked me to bring the research on the Deathless Project to Insomnia”.

Uma’s soup spoon clattered back into the pot.

_Wait, what?_

“So why didn’t you get to Insomnia? You could have gone there and—got protection from the king!” Noctis exclaimed. His dad would have personally protected the researcher himself!  “You wouldn’t have to hide in the wilds to avoid Niflheim.”.

The elder just shook his head. Uma interrupted before the prince continued.

“Was it a double agent in Lucis?”.

“Well, you’re aware of that too?” Endre’s lips quirked to form a dry smile.

The blonde gave a meaningful glance towards Noctis. “He wouldn’t have ended up in Niflheim’s labs otherwise.”.

Upon that, Noctis wilted. It was undeniably the most likely explanation, as much as he didn’t want to think of anyone near to his dad working for the Empire.

Endre spooned some porridge to his mouth, chewed and swallowed.

“I knew the Lucian agent as Hans, an intern under my wing, thirteen years after the beginning of the project. I already had seen enough to lose all my faith in my country. When he suggested that we bring the research and flee to Lucis to turn the save my homeland from its own rulers, I agreed.” He paused, then mused absently, “… I suppose I didn’t cover up my disgust for our research as well as I’ve thought.”.

“As a spy, he would have great skill at analysing your behaviour,” Uma interjected

“Perhaps,” the old man placed his bowl down, having finished his meal. “I copied all the data I could find and got an infant clone. We fled the very next day.”.

“Then the spy got you,” Noctis followed up.

“Not that fast,” Endre chuckled. “We made it all the way to Leide, a rest stop outside the Wall. Hans told me to wait as he met up with his contact to get us into Insomnia. But he never returned. ”.

“Instead, someone else came back. I would have opened the door and got gunned down, you know. It was a stroke of luck that the baby wouldn’t stop fussing until I brought him on a walk through the bushland. That little angel saved my life.”.

Noctis smiled. “Yeah, they do say babies have the sixth sense.”.

“You were very lucky,” Uma agreed, then pressed. “Did you see the assassin’s face?”.

Thunder boomed. Endre closed his eyes.

“I never got a good look of his face…but I am certain I will recognise him on sight. He looked Lucian, had brown hair…built like a soldier. I remember he was very muscular and tall,” the old man’s eyebrows furrowed as he struggled to recall the details of the memory. “He was in front of the house that we used as our hideout. I saw him shoot open the door and go in. After that, all I remembered was fleeing with the baby. I didn’t dare to look back.”.

He sighed as he reopened his eyes, taking a shuddering breathe. “I hid out here for a month, I think, before I dared to venture outside and pass the child to a refugee that was trying to apply for asylum in the Crown City. Last I heard, he was successful.” Endre seemed to remember something, turning to Noctis. “That baby would be your age now, I suppose.”.

“Well, he’s probably living a good life in the city,” Noctis piped up, hoping to cheer the elder. “Maybe I’ll meet him someday!”.

Endre chuckled. “Help me take a look at how he’s living? He may be the only thing I’ve done right with my sorry life.”. The prince’s mood dropped again as the elder slid back into self-loathing.

“Noct,” Uma called out. “Could you clean the utensils this time?”.

“Sure,” Noctis agreed. Puzzlement flashed through his mind: Uma rarely called him to clean all the utensils and pots himself, fearing that the heavier crockery may be too much for his recovering injury. Still, the boy was too preoccupied with his failed attempts at trying to make Endre see the good he had done as he trooped dejectedly to the kitchen.

Not that he could blame him. The prince knew personally that it was hard to avert his eyes from his failures. How much more had it been for Mr Endre?

* * *

 The two adults sat in silence as the boy went off to do as he was told. Uma silently assessed the man. Endre’s rheumy eyes looked at her, then sighed.

“Thinking about how to get rid of me?” the old man had a look of resignation.

“I’m not here to assassinate you,” Uma rebuffed quietly.

Endre looked at her drily. “Though I may not be one of the scientists that worked on you, there’s no chance that you do not hold resentment towards me as one of the enablers to what’s been done…to you and others.”.

That was true. Though she wasn’t a product of Niflheim experimentation in actuality, the weeks in the laboratory had allowed her to witness enough atrocities to fuel her anger at the country itself. Not only that, the Empire’s machinations struck too close to what the Organization had done. She would often see the visage of the men in black overlap with the scientists dressed in pompous red finery and white coats, coolly ignoring the cries of their fellow countrymen as they sentenced them to a painful end when they did not survive the process, daemonification if they did.

The warrior had always wondered whether the men who had operated and condemned her to a life of a shunned monster slayer had felt anything when they saw a terrified little girl of less than six summers crying under their knives. The justification of their actions as a desperate act to save their country from the head of the Organization before his death hadn’t resolved that question at all.

Now, with Endre before her, she may have gotten the answer.

“You tried to make amends for what you’ve done, though it failed,” she started slowly. “Still, you are no longer a threat…to humanity. There’s no reason to kill you.”.

Endre was silent, head bowed.

“So that is how you would judge me,” his voice was barely a whisper. Uma sighed.

With her age, she knew that evil and good was never clear cut, especially in the face of war. The Organization condemned the Continent to a life of fear among monsters out of its duty to its homeland. The Awakened Beings felt love and hate like humans did, and only differences were their bodily urges and extreme contempt after humanity had failed them again and again. She herself had turned on the Awakened Beings with the other Ghosts once the threat of the Organization and its greatest weapons were eradicated.

“I have no interest in destroying. That would not undo all that happened. I’d rather… use the remaining time I have to ensure that no one else has to go through what I went through.”.

Endre stared at her with a wide-eyed look. Then he sagged.

“I didn’t think you would think that way as well…” he mumbled. Uma gave him a sympathetic and resigned grin. “At least, you still have the courage in you, whereas mine has—“.

A fit of coughing interrupted his words. The blonde hurried to get him an extra blanket. Noctis poked his head out of the kitchen and asked if the elder was alright. Uma shooed him away with the task of getting some warm tea, reminding him not to use magic as an afterthought.

“Where was I?” the old man knitted his brows as the memory of their previous conversation escaped him after the fuss.

“Courage,” Uma said wryly. It was ironic, considering she was absolutely terrified of the what that awaited them on the path to get the prince to the right people that would help to safeguard humanity’s future. “Whether I have that or not, I’m the only one who can bring him into Insomnia. For the sake of this world.”.

“ _For the sake of the world_?" Endre's eyebrows rose incredulously, the inner researcher in him obviously skeptical of such a claim. Still, his judgemental gaze lessened after staring at her unchanged expression.

"How bad is it in Niflheim now?” he ventured.

“All the villages and small settlements have been raided for experiments,” Uma closed her eyes, remembering the first people she had met in the prisons. “…I know nothing of smaller cities and Tenebrae, but I think the only people safe from the Empire’s research and the Starscourge are within Gralea and other major cities.”.

Endre shook his head, “If their method of operations hasn’t changed, those cities will be the first to fall to outbreaks of the Scourge soon enough. I’d suppose there’s a thriving wild daemon population there as well?” Uma nodded. The much smaller population of daemons in Lucian lands had been a great surprise to the duo. “The same would happen here once they set up their Magitek production facilities in Lucis after they’ve cornered the kingdom…”.

The elder turned to gaze at Noctis’s small back as he waited for the water to boil, looking very much like an ordinary eight-year old. “I suppose you plan to get him to the royal family then? It won’t be easy with Niflheim’s eyes and hands within Insomnia,” Endre warned. He turned back to Uma after some contemplation. “Even if you succeed in your venture…you are aware that he would end up as a backup to maintain the Wall, condemned to protect the Crown City, perhaps the last sanctuary of humanity, to his death?”.

Uma nodded sombrely.

“As long as I live, whether my choice is right or wrong, I’ll follow and protect him with all my power,” she spoke lowly. “…I can’t leave him alone.”.

“...I see.”.

The old man struggled to push himself up, seemingly revitalized. “Give me a hand!” he barked, surprising the blonde with his sudden vigor. She allowed herself to be used as a human crutch as the elder hobbled to where his sleeping quarters were.

“Stop here. Can you feel the seams on the floor?”. Uma dropped onto her knees and followed his instructions, finding an odd seam on the cement floor. After a few tries, she managed to hook a finger on the hidden tile’s edge and lifted it up. A stack of objects wrapped in hemp lay in the space within.

She looked at the elder for permission before picking it up. In the light, flat pieces of circular metal glinted in scratched, clear packaging. Endre coughed lightly.

“Those are the research notes on the projects I could take with me from the Magitek Research Program,” the old scientist wheezed. “Mostly on Project Deathless, since I was a research member working on it. My specialisation was working on the Magitek cores.”.

He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Enough of that. These disks…take them with you to the Crown City. If you manage to get the boy to the King, make sure to pass them to him as well. With luck, they’ll be able to counter the Empire’s magitek technology with them…”.

Endre sighed, before grinning. “Well that means I would have done some good then? Though its ten years late.”.

“Yes,” Uma affirmed, gingerly holding the stack, afraid to drop them and gods forbid, crack them.

It wouldn’t do to wipe off the first smile of relief she saw from the old scientist at all.

* * *

 

The light morning mist in Nebulawood lifted as the rays of the sun stretched across Duscae. Light filtered down the green canopy, reflecting off a dewdrop that plopped onto one-very-tired eight-year old’s nose.

Uma steadied Noctis just in time before he stumbled after being shocked out of his post-sleep daze. Not that he had gotten much. The series of revelations from the previous day had kept the duo up till the wee hours of the morning.

“Do you think Mr Endre will be awake at this time?” Noctis mumbled. Uma knew it was a roundabout way to voice his displeasure at waking up early.

“Older people need less sleep,” she smirked. The boy groaned but did not voice a complaint. She held his hand tighter as they made their way through the woods, having learnt that Noctis was prone to tripping over the most obvious obstacles when he was drowsy. She had to get him to stop walking with his eyes closed if she was going to teach him sword fighting that he asked for.

But that could wait for a while. Uma had offered to escort Endre to the outpost to get his supplies. The old man turned it down, caving in only when she settled for the next day. He had sent them off, wishing them a good night.

The morning light cast a soft glow on the walls of the old armoury. Somehow, it seemed more welcoming than it had yesterday. 

The duo made it to the door of Endre’s abode. The warrior knocked on the door.

It swung open without resistance.

They froze, stupefied, for a fraction of a moment. Then, Uma and Noctis rushed into the house.

There, on his bed, under the light streaming from the window, an old man lay peacefully, a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SORRY. This chapter had been lying on my computer for a month because I haven't gotten around editing it. Now that my finals are approaching , I decided to put it up since I've already nitpicked it so many times. This chapter's pretty content heavy and could have had more interaction between Uma and Noctis showing how they've changed...but I can't seem to get it in for some reason. 
> 
> And the total number of chapters above is just an estimate. I thought it would be longer but my plans are telling me this is going to end at about 8-10 chapters. 
> 
> To all who's still reading, thanks for the continuous support! I'm still trying to finish this before this year ends so please bear with me! I'll probably not update for the next two weeks because that's when my exams are. As usual, if you've liked this or have any suggestions to make my writing or the story better, feel free to comment! They give me the motivation to keep on writing with my limited time!
> 
> And let me know if you've gotten my video game reference!


	7. All the players in Insomnia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something in the Crown City stirs...

Regis rubbed his eyes tiredly, turning to the office window to realize the sun had long since set. At least, he had finished off a day’s worth of paperwork.

Someone knocked.

Regis’s breathe stilled. Months ago, he would have instinctively raised his head and smiled, prepared for Noctis who would come in asking for his company.

His shield walked in. Clarus glanced at the stack of paperwork and his friend’s worn visage. Regis had looked his age even with the strain of the wall, but the disappearance of his only child aged him. “Regis.”.

“Yes, Clarus?”.

“Would you like to come over to my house for dinner? We have enough for a guest”.

Regis sighed, putting on a weary smile. “There’s no need to coddle me, Clarus. I’m past the worst of it.”.

But Clarus wasn't buying the facade. “Maybe, but after all that nonsense the Council pulled today, I can’t leave you alone.”.

The monarch could not refuse his friend’s offer now. “Very well, I’ll accept your goodwill, my friend.”.

Seven months into the disappearance of Prince Noctis, the council had decided it was time to raise the issue of heirs. Several members pressured their King that it was time to find a means to produce another Lucis Caelum as a safeguard, in case they would never recover his firstborn.

It was a topic that should not have been raised to a grieving father still searching for news for his child. Though several members did not urge Regis, insisting that the search operations for Noctis should be the priority, all of them came to a consensus that their monarch needed to make another heir as a fail-safe for the kingdom. If Regis died before Noctis could be found, who would hold up the wall?

Leaving the Council with an agreement to look into having another child, Regis shut himself in his office for the rest of his day. The guards reported that he had not come out, even for lunch.

He had promised to take Noctis out on a fishing trip that day in a reserve near the border of the city. As usual, an emergency meeting came up, and he had asked a guard to pass the message that he would not be able to join his son.

Noctis would have been disappointed, but the boy had learnt that this was an inevitable situation of having a ruler for a father. Regis thought that he would be able to squeeze some time to find him during dinner afterwards, or apologise to him before he went to bed.

Just as it often was.

Instead, hours later, he found himself slaying a Marilith that had gotten into the walls. Followed by searching through the remains of his guards and the broken cars, finding no trace of his son.

The city went into lockdown immediately. The search went for twelve hours, which lengthened to twenty-four, then thirty-six…months later, after the records were combed through, every inch of Insomnia searched, all resources burnt, his eight-year-old son--the light of his life-- was nowhere to be found.

Two months after the prince’s disappearance, Regis broke down in the middle of a council meeting, called it off and disappeared. Clarus found him apologising to his dead wife’s grave amidst tears for not being a good father and failing to protect their child. This was it for the king’s loyal retainers. Afterwards, Cor and Clarus ran themselves thin helping to run the country and keeping a close eye on their king at the same time.

“What would I do without you, Clarus?”. To be honest, it was thanks to his Shield and Commander or the Crownsguard along with the capable personnel of the Citadel that the city hadn't fell apart. Regis had been a wreck under the façade of composure he showed to his citizens.

“You might have destroyed the crystal in a fit of rage, and leave the city in a mess,” the Shield deadpanned from the wheel. Regis cringed at that. He had taken a sword to the Crystal after hours of silence from the Draconian. “Regis, he’s your still son. We’re not going to give up on finding Noctis ever, even if you decide to have another child.”.

The king gave a smile that had more spirit than he previously felt. “Thank you, Clarus.”. Their car drove past a city square, where decorations had been put up for August 30th, though it this time, the city would be praying for the safe return of their prince instead of its usual festivities.

“He’s turning 9 soon.”.

* * *

“Halt, glaive! What’s your reason for leaving the training compound so early?”.

Uma took out a slip of paper and passed it to the Guard. He noted it down, before motioning to her to pass through. “Off you go. Don’t spend too much time skipping training—you might lose your visa you know!”

The hybrid hurried past, ignoring the jibe that the Insomnian had to rub in. She had spent nearly thirty minutes finding her officer, getting a pass for early dismissal, and returning her equipment before making it out of the training grounds. That was thirty minutes that _Noctis_ had to wait with a _fever_.

A subway ride later, Uma was finally at the door of an apartment in the refugee district. Claire, the teacher of twenty students, ushered Noctis out. “He’s been feverish and having a sore throat. He can resume classes after he’s gotten better—I don’t want the other kids falling sick.”.

“What about his homework?”.

“We’re learning geometry this week. Let Luke get his rest. I’ll help him catch up once he comes back,” Claire turned to pat Noctis—now Luke, on the head. “Make sure to listen to the doctor and get some rest, okay? Leave the worrying to your sister.”.

“Hey…” Uma protested at the teacher’s cheeky remark, to which Claire grinned and headed back into her apartment to look after the remaining children before their relatives came to fetch them from the only refugee-operated school in the slums.

“Sorry,” Luke mumbled as they walked down to the nearest clinic.

“What for?”.

“Won’t you get into trouble for leaving Kingsglaive training early? And you’re also paying money to see the doctor…”.

Uma rubbed his head. “Don’t think so much.”.

But in hindsight, she hadn’t done a good job of keeping problems away from his knowledge, and the young boy took everything to heart. It had taken her a month to finally apply for immigration and another for her application to Insomnia’s Kingsglaive to be approved. Then, it had been a long battle of negotiating with smuggling rings, making sure Noctis’s guardians were doing their job and plenty of bribery. Finally making it through the city, Noctis knew firsthand that Uma could not bring him to the licensed clinics for subsidised healthcare for fear of the Crownsguard discovering him as an illegal immigrant. Then it was knowing that she gave up a free apartment in the Kingsglaive barracks in order to hide him from the city guard and Niflheim’s spies.

They’ve finally reached their destination, yet he smiled far less than when they were fleeing across the war-torn outer lands.

* * *

There was a little shop selling Galahd cuisine in the slums. Uma always frequented that place only when she knew no other Kingsglaives were there, especially when she took Luke along.

It was the shop Uma could be confident that served good food _and_ practiced decent hygiene.

“Hi there! Oh, you’ve brought little Luke along!” Yamachang hollered at the pair as they entered the establishment.

“Hello, Yamachang. We’ll have the usual," then Uma remembered Noctis's condition. "W-w-without spice!".

“Really? It doesn’t taste as good without the spices,” the shop owner seemed miffed that Uma would deny spices—it was essential to Galahdian cuisine apparently.

“Luke has a sore throat. Fever.”. Uma made sure she sounded pitiful. Luke backed her up by rasping, “Hi, Yamachang.”.

“That’s something nasty you’ve caught,” Yamachang winced, letting them off the hook. “Fine, one non-spicy Galahdian style Gighee skewers and Malbo Smul coming up!”.

“Thank you!”.

As they waited for Yamachang to prepare the dishes, Luke took out his homework questions. Uma had no idea if other kids of his age were as proactive as he was in his studies, but she could not help to think that he put in too much time into learning. Besides, she really had to ask him if he was making friends!

The stairs creaked as another customer entered the restaurant, heading to the counter to place an order.

“Tolmao? Hey, it’s you!”.

_Oh god of Rabona—no, Six, why???_

“H-hi, Altius,” Uma greeted her fellow Kingsglaive.

_Damn! Now Yamachang and Crowe_ knows _I have_ Noct _with me! Shit!_

“Wait what? Uma, you never told me you’re Kingsglaive!” Yamachang hollered from his kitchen. Uma covered her eyes with a palm.

“Yes, um, I didn’t think it was important?”.

“Who’s this kid?” Crowe looked at Luke curiously.

“Luke Tolmao, Uma’s little brother!” the store owner piped up before Uma could give a vague explanation.

“Tolmao, you’ve never told me you were taking care of your younger sibling!”.

Well.

“My brother happens to be the missing prince of Insomnia, and I’m hiding him because I have no idea who the undercover Niflheim spies are in the Crown’s service. So I’m not going to hand him back unless I weed out them from the ranks first, since it’s impossible to deliver him to his dad in this cramped city with a population of millions where the king’s whereabouts are top secret. By the way, did you know that his rooms are shielded with special magic on top of the best security systems? How did I know that? Well, I tried to get through them!”. Yeah, right. She would have wasted her blood, sweat and tears of her years as a warrior if she ever admitted that. The spies will probably put a bullet in her head. The king may or may not get his son back. She would go to the afterlife and meet some of the greatest awakened beings in history who will rage, _“Really? How dare you fall to some humans after you chopped me up with your claymore?”._

“I didn’t think it was important…,” the hybrid said weakly.

On the bright side, they had made sure to lighten Luke’s hair to improve their appearance as brother and sister. At a first glance, none of them should make the connection between Uma’s “little brother” and “Prince Noctis.”.

Crowe Altius came to sit at the table next to them, seemingly unaware of Uma’s stiff demeanour. “How is that not important? I can’t imagine taking care of family while being in the Kingsglaive. Is this why you’re always disappearing after training?”.

“Yeah, I have to get him back from school…”. It was tough. Being in the Kingsglaive was a full-time job. There were days that Uma had an hour to grab supplies for Luke to help him last a day without her before being deployed for a night-long exercise. The current worst was when she had taken a two-week long exercise outside the wall. She had been a hair away from prostrating herself to beg Claire for the favour. Thankfully, the kind woman had taken him without complaint, and Uma made sure to compensate her heavily (A huge cut out of her paycheck. Uma had never been more thankful of her body’s relatively little needs before then).

That said, she absolutely dreaded her deployment to the front lines. Where was she supposed to find someone to take care of Noctis for a year or more?

“…So do you have other family members in the Crown City?” Crowe was asking.

“No. Just the two of us”. The other glaive widened her eyes. Right on cue, Yamachang served up their order.

Uma eyed the other Glaive cautiously. They never spoke much, despite being on the same platoon. The hybrid could think of many reasons why that was so, and unfortunately, most of it seemed to stem from her.

Looking like a Niflheiman with a Tenebraen nationality? Check.

A tenuous grasp of language skills that turned every conversation awkward? Check.

Social anxiety that was inherent as well as caused by the complete difference between the city and her previous life? Absolutely. To top it off, hiding the Prince of Lucis? Check, check and check.

“Well, the pay and benefits are good, so there’s not really a problem about supporting the two of us?” she added after a period of silence.

Crowe waved her hands. “No! I didn’t mean anything by that—so, is he registered?”.

As soon as she said that, both brother and sister stiffened into statues. The other glaive hurriedly added, “Hey, don’t worry! This stays between us. Hey, Yamachang!

“What, Altius?”.

“This stays private, alright?”.

“Oh, no problem. I won’t blab about this.”. The storeowner rolled his eyes as if asking them if they actually believed he would reveal such a private matter.

“Why?” Noctis blurted out, seeing that Uma hadn’t came around after the exchange that happened in front of their eyes.

Altius grinned. “I’m Kingsglaive too, so I know how the visa works. Only the Kingsglaive applicant is allowed to enter the city if they have enough magical affinity. None of their direct family members are included...even children.”.

At that point, Uma grimaced along with the other two adults in the restaurant. This was just one of the many harsh and controversial rules in the refugee policy—and obviously, one that generated much dissatisfaction among Insomnia’s immigrant population. On the other end, everyone knew that such a rule had to be enforced due to the limited resources within the city, a desperate measure for a desperate situation.

“Thanks, Altius,” Uma spoke quietly.

“Nonsense, like hell I’m going to separate you two by bringing him up to the authorities,” Altius snorted. Yamachang served up her meal as well. “I’m just…really impressed. Most will choose to leave their kids behind…and many end up with no one taking care of them, you know?”

The blonde eyed the other glaive as she opened her drink. “To be honest…if you’ve tried, you know that it is near impossible to…get your family in by the other route,” Uma started tentatively. “I was…incredibly lucky.”.

Altius raised her eyebrows at that. “Well, if you say so.”. Then she pushed her table so that it was adjacent to the pair’s. “Hey, Uma, do you usually eat so little? You’re not dieting, are you?”.

The warrior barely clamped down on the urge to tear out her hair. One crisis resolved, another coming up. When was she ever going to get a break?

* * *

Luche Lazarus entered his captain’s office. Titus Drautos’s expression was worse than usual.

“Captain.”.

“At ease, glaive,” the recently-appointed Captain of Insomnia’s youngest military division sighed and continued, “We’ve got to do another side retrieval mission.”.

“What’s the target, sir?”.

“The subject of the Armiger Project. They’ve found evidence that he’s somewhere near the Crown City, or perhaps even in the city.”.

What? How in Six’s name did that happen? Luche did not bother masking his incredulity. “That’s impossible. It’s currently the most classified project, isn’t it?”.

“Well, the impossible happened,” Drautos pinched his forehead. “I’ve just received news that the subject disappeared right out of Gralea more than six months ago. They found no trace of them in Niflheim until they got a possible sighting of him in Cleigne—” Drautos stopped here to clench his teeth, a vein popping in his head. “—then those incompetent fools finally find possible info on him in the Lucian outlands and decide to contact us after two months of doing practically _nothing_.”.

Luche really, really wanted to punch someone.

His captain seemed to steady himself faster than he did. “Luche, contact the others. We will coordinate this operation tomorrow.”.

“Yes, sir. So, any intel that the Crown has something to do with this?”.

“Luche,” Drautos warned—he wasn’t supposed to ask for too much information at this point, and the other man hardly appreciated sarcasm. Still, his captain relented. “To my knowledge, no. The search operations haven’t seemed to find anything new since chasing down our trail to Cleigne. What’s your grievance, Glaive?”.

Luche gritted his teeth and ground out. “Because I have to do something behind my people’s back _again_ , thanks to someone’s incompetence.”.

Drautos had been doing this business longer than he did. At this very moment, Luche badly wanted to know how he dealt with his contradicting loyalties.

His captain seemed to know his burning question. “Luche, no matter what happens, be clear that you’re doing this for your home. This is different from betraying Lucis for your own gain.”.

Yes. For hearth and home. With that, Luche’s heartbeat steadied somewhat. “Thank you, captain.”.

* * *

When Crowe introduced her to her two friends and casually mentioned that she had a brother, Uma nearly had a heart attack.

“Oh come on, Uma! How old are you?”.

“Thirty-five!”.

“Ha-ha, didn’t know you’re that old! Don’t be such a spoilsport. There’s no way you’re going to get that at that age anyway!”.

“Crowe-!”.

Thankfully, Nyx and Libertus did not pry. They’ve accepted her into their group as she was, inviting her out for drinks with other glaives when they knew she was free. The trio even offered to help look after Luke. Still, Uma declined.

But she had to admit, it was good to have people she could talk to.

Weeks after their meeting at Yamachang’s stall, Uma found something of interest as Crowe regaled her with a disaster at a night out a week before.

“So, after seven shots, the guys got onto the dance floor, and Libertus tells Pelna to slap Nyx’s ass. So Pelna did! But the ass didn’t belong to Nyx,” Crowe giggled upon recalling the memory. Not wanting to be left hanging with this intriguing story, Uma urged, “And?”.

“So this guy turns around and Six! She’s a lady! I really thought that Pelna was going to end up charged with molestation. He apologized to her real quick, so I guess she realized it was an honest mistake. I swear, that scare sobered him instantly. He didn’t do anything stupid for the rest of the night.”.

“She let him off with just an apology?” Uma raised her eyebrows.

Crowe took another shot. “Kind of? He paid for whatever she wanted to buy afterwards, so I’d say they called it even? Anyway, after talking to her, it turns out that she’s from the Crownsguard, currently working in administration. Apparently they’re trying to digitise all the hardcopy records in the archives. From how she describes it, it sounds like a painfully boring job—and bad for the eyes too.”.

Uma paused. The military archives held all the records of past missions and the war, as well as a record of who accessed them.

Including the mission involving Endre.

Perhaps, there was some clue to the identity of the Niflheim spy to be found there.

“Crowe?”.

“Hm?” the other glaive turned to her, slightly tipsy. The blonde immediately felt guilty over using her friend.

_Focus. This is for the good of her as much as Noctis. You find the identity of the spy, you get to bring Noctis to the king and he’ll grow up to eradicate the Starscourge and the darkness._

“The archives contain records of immigrants into Lucis, right?”. Crowe hummed in agreement, tilting her head questioningly.

_Asking about Endre should be less risky than asking about Hans…god knows if that’s his actual name._

“Well, there’s somebody I’d like to ask about. It’s been 9 years…since he left,” Uma started. “Endre Bessas? He was successful in applying for immigration in Insomnia. The thing is, now I’m here, I haven’t been able to find him at all…so I’m asking…is it possible…to search for his…address and phone number in the archives?”.

_Wait. This is a terrible idea. How is asking for a person search going to help? He’s not going to turn up in the immigration records, is he? Bloody hell!_

“Uma, I can’t do that. It’s not fair to use your connections to leap ahead of the queue, you know?” Crowe replied somewhat hazily. “I’d hate to say this but…you should file a request for a…death certificate? Something like that? From the Crownsguard. That’s the only way you could find a person here from the government without knowing where they are. I can’t let my friend get into trouble for using her authority to breach protocol, ya know?”.

“Yeah…I understand. I’ll try that.”. _Yeah, that’s pretty much the same…ugh, maybe I should get Crowe to introduce me to her? But I’m pretty sure that’s not going to work that well…_

Uma tried to get a drink from her glass, only to realize that it was empty, again.

“How many have you had, by the way?” Crowe narrowed her eyes as she focused on the objects of their new topic. A glance revealed a total of nine glasses—and it had only been an hour.

“Ugh! There goes my paycheck!”.

“Wait, how the hell are you not drunk? I only had two!”.

“Don’t ask me. Oh god, is it 7 now? I’ve got to get back to Luke!”.

* * *

In a twisted way, Crowe was fortunate to never have to experience the separation of family and close friends. However, she’d seen enough of the pain in Libertus and Nyx when they had to leave their family members and close friends when they’ve joined the Kingsglaive, never to know what became of them.

And the dealing with nonsense the anti-immigrants were so fond of pulling really didn’t help either. Neither was the alcohol, but...

Now that she thought about it, Insomnia owed her enough to pull a little favour.

The glaive pulled out her phone and dialled her new friend.

“Hey Monica? It’s Crowe! Could you help me look into something?”.

* * *

Damn it, of all people, why did it had to be her?

“Captain!”

Drautos looked up as Luche barged into his office.

“At ease, glaive. Report.”.

“Someone just filed a search request for someone involved in the mission to steal intel on Magitek nine years ago. They’ve specifically requested Bessas.”.

Drautos stood up so fast that his chair tipped over. Luche inadvertently jumped at the crash.

“Who made the request?”. At the captain’s urgent growl, the glaive remembered his report.

“…Crowe Altius, sir”. Luche ground out after a few moments.

The glaive watched the captain sigh and close his eyes.

“Luche? Investigate her. And have her watched.".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! Here's a long overdue chapter...
> 
> I thought I'd be able to finish posting this before today came, but a close family member of mine fell ill. Please see a doctor early--small illnesses can worsen and bring a host of other problems really fast. Don't underestimate them!
> 
> I still have to apologize for the lack of updates. Things have become more manageable these few days so I'll try my best to push through these chapters. At least I've got an entire outline done, so I'm not letting this go incomplete!
> 
> Other than that, thank you all for following this and reading this all this while! I'm not a frequent updater and I really appreciate the support you've shown me! If you've enjoyed this, please leave a comment to let me know! Suggestions to improve the story and my writing are also welcome.
> 
> Wishing everyone to have a good 2019!
> 
> Notes:  
> Yes, I headcanon Uma is 35. I'm assuming she's about 18 during the Northern Campaign, 25 after the 7-year timeskip and will be 35-36 10 years later where this fic takes place for her. She still has the appearance of being in her early twenties at most, as Claymores are long-lived and their appearance will no longer age after reaching adulthood/puberty.


	8. The Spark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparing for a prince's birthday has never been smooth-sailing...

Returning back to Insomnia made Noctis realize that nothing would ever be the same for him.

He’d always known that running the kingdom was hard work. His dad had to always leave—the kingdom’s needs were always the most important, definitely above that of her prince. In his eight-year-old mind, he could never imagine how he would take his dad’s place one day.

Living in the refugee district really helped.

To see the worst in Insomnia.

The fault certainly wasn’t in the refugees, even though they were many unsavoury figures that no one would want to be with—nor could he imagine that the Insomnian citizens that he spent nearly all his life around being completely responsible for the sorry plight.

When he accidentally let slip that Uma brought him in from the outer walls the first day he met Ms Claire, the middle-aged woman had made him promise not to tell anyone else. Only afterwards, did he realize that the city only accepted refugees who had magical potential and were willing to join the Kingslglaive.

All of them had to leave their wives, husbands, children and parents behind.

It made him realize how little he actually knew.

If he managed to meet his dad again, how should he talk to him?

_Why can’t you let the family of the immigrants come in?_

_Do they really have to live in the refugee district? Can’t they go to the public clinics and schools like everyone else?_

_Is there a better way, dad?_

_I almost couldn’t make it in because of those rules…_

“Noctis! No magic!” Uma shrieked.

“It’s just a potion!” The little prince retorted back, protecting his vial of magical soda to which the blonde was pointing a knife to.

“What about the time the entire building had a blackout? We’re lucky they didn’t track it to us like the time with fire!” his protector rebuffed. Noctis had to wince—they had been fined 800 gil for that…

 Uma trained him in self-defense and sword fighting, but he was far from the point when he could use them to defend himself. The only other asset that could make him stronger was his magic.

If his protector was going to stop him from practicing with magic…he’ll just have to hide his tracks better. And try not to call the fire brigade again.

* * *

 

When she found out that Uma Tolmao had no concept of _birthdays_ , Crowe flipped.

Fortunately, Luke’ birthday was just around the corner, presenting a perfect learning opportunity for the hopeless Tenebraen.

(None of the other glaives could make it on the short notice. No matter, Crowe was going to make this work)

The glaive waved at the duo that stepped out of the station. Luke seemed relaxed, but Uma eyed the buzz of activity around seemingly helplessly. “Hey, over here!”.

“Hi Crowe!” the boy piped, followed by a less enthusiastic greeting from his elder sister.

“You haven’t got used to crowds have you?” Crowe sighed at the blonde.

“It’s always so huge here…” Uma protested weakly.

“Sharpen up, Glaive. This will also be a good experience to get you used to crowd control duty too.”.

Thusly, Crowe dragged one birthday boy and a hopeless case to explore the best of the city.

Their first stop was to have cake at a well-known ice-cream restaurant chain.

“Do you like this chocolate ice-cream cake, Luke?”. Crowe grinned upon seeing the boy nod back in enthusiasm, a grin spreading on his chocolate-smeared mouth. “Hey, you’ve got chocolate all over face!”

“So how is it, Uma?” she turned to see the other sibling. Then stilled.

If Luke had been enthusiastic…Uma was eyeing at her half-eaten slice with such wonderment that it could be called _reverent._ Worshipful.

The blonde’s fork hovered above the artfully arranged topping of chocolate flakes and cream, seemingly afraid to damage it.

“Hey Uma, it’s just cake. Its supposed to be eaten,” Luke exclaimed after bearing witness to his older sister admiring her slice which had only been bitten into once. For five minutes.

The fork dipped slightly, before being raised back.

“It’s too pretty...," the blonde revealed a face of tragic indecision. 

Crowe nearly facepalmed.

“You don’t have cakes in Tenebrae?” It’s the first time the Galahdian had seen such a reaction. Even within the immigrant community.

“Uh—,” the Tenebraen struggled to come up with an answer. Thankfully, Luke cut in to give her a timely answer.

“We have pastries! Mostly! But we don’t have much ice-cream back home,” he added quickly, before turning to his sister. “How come you’ve never seen one of these after we came here? They’re on ads everywhere!”.

Uma made an embarrassed noise.

Birthday cake finished, the trio made a stop at Yamachang’s stall to grab some takeout for Luke tomorrow, for Uma had been assigned wall duty the next week.

Yamachang made sure to slap the boy’s back in congratulations. “One year older, little man! Soon you’ll grow strong enough to stand on your own two feet!”.

“Yeah, kids’ll grow up fast, don’t they?” Crowe sighed. Her childhood had seemed to whizz past her—soon, Luke will be old enough to live by himself. “Hey, Uma, are you prepared to let him go when he grows up?”.

The blonde glaive paused, then answered slowly, “He’ll need to live his life on his own terms when he grows up.”.

“Hey!” Yamachang’s call got the attention of the two glaives. “I’m doing a little photo project for my shop. Do you guys mind taking a photo here?”.

“Photo project?” Uma echoed.

Indeed, there were a  number of photographs that included the stall owner and his other customers pasted on the wall of shop. Well, that sounded like a good idea.

“Come on, Tolmao!” Crowe slapped her fellow glaive’s back, sending the blonde careening to the front. “Give me the camera. This will be fun!”.

“Fun?” Uma didn’t seemed convinced. But even with all her reluctance, she willingly leaned in with Noctis and Yamachang over his counter. The photo revealed her content smile behind Noctis’s cheery grin.

* * *

 

The next part involved gift-giving.

“Look here, Uma. Get something for Luke—within your budget, of course. And it has to be something good,” Crowe whispered conspiratorially into her friend’s ear.

Uma hesitated and gazed at her younger brother who was looking at a display some distance away. “But Luke?”.

Crowe sighed internally at the constant worrying of her borderline-helicopter friend.

“I’ll look after him! Meet up with us over here thirty minutes later,” the Galahdian patted the shoulder of the insecure Tenebraen. “Thirty minutes, Uma. I’d go and start looking if I were you.”.

That managed to get Uma moving. Crowe and Luke browsed aimlessly through the department store, before eventually settling to sit on one of the few stools around.

“So Luke, have you made any friends since coming here?” She asked the boy. He shook his head. “I don’t think I’m that close with the other kids in my class…but I get along well with them?”.

Oh. That’s…better than nothing. “Well, there’s still time…” she mused. The boy still had his whole life ahead of him after all. “Still, do your best to make some. Over here, you’ll never know if you need the help of someone—knowing that there’s someone out there who also cares for you will really help with living in this city.”.

“…okay?” Luke raised his eyebrows.

“Wait, I could check if there are any other ex-Kingsglaives who were from Tenebrae!” Crowe’s eyes lit up. Why didn’t she think of that before? Immigrants who had retired from the Kingsglaive due to injury and other valid reasons were still allowed to reside in the Kingdom—Yamachang had been one. “So, where did you and your sister come from in Tenebrae? I’ll see if there’s anyone from your town!”.

The boy froze.

…What?

Crowe had been expecting enthusiasm. Or hesitancy, if Luke was shy as many eight-year-olds were. But fear? Not at all.

A period of awkward silence was more than enough to get Crowe to fix the problem. “Hey, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk…it takes time,” she started. Oh Six, please don’t tell her she just triggered a panic attack or a traumatic memory—what was the protocol for helping a kid with a panic attack?!

“Luke, breathe,” the level-headed soldier part of her kicked in as she placed a hand on the child’s back and begin to instruct him. “Focus on me.”.

“No…I’m okay,” Luke waved her off.

“Are you sure?”. He seemed alright, no glazed eyes, breakdown or violent trembling. Still, she had to make sure.

“I’m okay!” the boy snapped. Then realized his mistake and apologized meekly. “Sorry.”.

“Oh that’s alright.”. It had started by Crowe hitting touchy subject with a first question, after all.

She found a new topic soon enough. “About your sister…”.

“About Uma?”. Luke was not getting defensive. Good.

Crowe spoke more easily now. “I think I’ve said this before, but I’m in awe of her guts. She may be the only one in Insomnia who dares to be a Kingsglaive and raise a kid alone.”.

“Yeah…” Luke drooped almost imperceptibly.

“My parents left me behind soon after King Mors withdrew the wall—or so I’ve gathered from the people who knew them,” Crowe continued. She didn’t miss how the boy perked up in curiosity again. “I was three then. I got passed around and wandered alone for a while until I met the Ostiums.”.

“By the way, did Uma tell you about Libs?”. A blank stare. Crowe shook her head. Uma really needed to bring her brother out more! At least, to her trusted friends!

“Libs is a friend of mine in the Kingsglaive. He and Nyx are from Galahd, as am I,” she summarised. Seeing the boy’s nod of understanding, she continued, “Libs was the only son from the Ostium family, so he was pretty much my older brother after his parents adopted me. Living with them was one of the best times of my life.”.

She smiled at the memories. “I have to say, I was really lucky.”.

Luke shifted, seemingly not knowing what to say. But the shy grin he had was telling enough.

“We’re both lucky,” he managed after a while. Crowe slapped him on the back.

“Yeah, that’s right, little man!”. The glaive watched in glee as the boy’s face underwent a series of colour changes as she used Yamachang’s nickname for him (Which he seemed to absolutely despise).

While an embarrassed eight-year old made a good attempt to hurt the glaive with a series of useless slapping, someone else came over to their spot.

“Hello, Crowe.”. Crowe looked up to see Luche, dressed in casual attire.

“Hi there. You’re out shopping too? I didn’t know you could get off on Thursdays,” Crowe greeted. Luche was pursuing promotion along with Nyx and Libertus, which meant that they had military duty five days a week and only got off on weekends.

“Drautos let us off early, and with the Prince’s birthday, there’s bound to be something on sale today.”. He drawled, then asked a question of his own. “Who’s kid is that? I didn’t know you babysat, Crowe.”.

“Hey hey hey, he’s not a baby,” Crowe corrected him good-naturedly. “And I’m helping Uma look after him for now.”.

“Uma?” Luche repeated, seemingly surprised by that declaration. His eyes narrowed. “That’s strange. I haven’t heard of it.”.

“Come on, Luche, it’s impossible for you to know e _verything_ ,” Crowe fought the urge to roll her eyes exasperatedly. Luche may be part of her closer circle of friends from Galahd, but she had to admit, he had selective social tact. The guy wanted to know all about you as soon as possible, and sometimes he could be completely _insensitive_ by asking s _ensitive_ questions—and pushing for answers when the other was unwilling.

Libertus and Crowe had long given up trying to mitigate a disaster whenever that happened, leaving Nyx to deal with smoothing things out when Luche and another glaive, Crownsguard or rookie that hadn’t taken his behaviour well.

Nyx was the only one with enough patience to iron out a crisis that could last a week. He was the saint in a group that _had_ Luche.

Luche, meanwhile, was interested in getting to know Uma’s little brother. Holding out a hand to the boy, he introduced himself, “I’m Luche. What’s your name, kid?”.

“Luke,” the boy replied, eyeing him curiously, but he withdrew his gaze after Luche’s intense stare.

“Good to meet you, Luke,” Luche greeted him. “So, where are you from?”.

Luke seemed caught off guard by the sudden question, and hesitated.

“I see, so he’s new to the city then,” Luche concluded, something in his tone irked Crowe. And she’s already displeased with the attitude the blonde glaive displayed.

“Luche, that’s not the way to talk.” Crowe interjected testily. “Look, he’s just a kid, and you should know what it’s like living outside the wall.”.

“Then you and Tolmao better hide him better then. If the Captain catches wind of this, its going to cause him more trouble because of the _King’s policies_.”.

That was it.

“What the hell, Luche?” Crowe snapped. “Do you know how much of an ass you are being today? I’m pissed about the immigration policies as much as you do, but Luke has nothing to do with it.”.

Luche still didn’t let down his glare at the child. At the back of her mind, Crowe was wondering if this was going to end up with a screaming match in the department store—seriously, this behaviour was totally unexpected for him! And what the hell was going on in his head? Was he trying to pick a convenient fight after a bad day?

“Hello, Lazarus.”.

The tension dissipated as the attention of the two glaives were redirected to Uma, who had returned with her acquired presents. She took in the situation, most definitely noting Crowe’s irritation and Luke’s fear, and raised a blonde brow.

“Did something happen?”. Her pale eyes flicked over to Luche, who gave her a nonchalant stare.

“WELL,—.”.

“I was trying to get to know Luke, but my questions may have crossed the line,” the blonde Galahdian interrupted Crowe smoothly. His voice was truly apologetic, throwing the indignant brunette and boy off-guard.

Wait, what?

“Alright?” Dear Uma, who was too unused to the conniving snake Luche could be when he felt like being an asshole, missed the warning signs that Crowe was signalling to her. _Uma! Just brush him off!_ “But I wouldn’t like it if you asked me too many weird questions either.”.

At least she was explicit about her limits!

Yet, Luche continued, seemingly friendly. “So, you live with your little brother, Tolmao?”.

“Yes?”.

“Mind telling me which district you live? I know of someone who’s trying to find a better place to live with his wife and new kids, but he’s finding it hard to find accommodation in the Citizen’s districts.”.

“Oh!” the Tenebraen gasped. “That’s horrible!”

“We’re living at the 15th Refugee district, Alnutt complex,” she continued sympathetically. “You could let him ask if there’s an apartment available there.”.

“Ah,” Luche paused, then posed another question. “So, how is the apartment there like? How big is it? Is it bright?”.

Those were really weird questions to ask about someone’s home, in Crowe’s opinion. Except if Luche was an architect, but he wasn’t.

Uma’s brows crept to her hairline. “I can’t speak for all the apartments…you should ask your friend to take a look himself, Luche.”.

Crowe had enough of weirdness today. “Luche, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but this is a girl’s day out. Please leave.”.

At the unwanted Glaive snorted and proceeded to comply with her request after Crowe shot him a glare. “Well then, see you for now.”.

“Yeah, have a good day,” Crowe was only too happy to finally shake the creep off her tail.

Luke sagged in relief beside her as Luche’s back disappeared into the distance. Uma turned to Crowe questioningly.

“So…what did he insult you with?”.

Crowe’s hand flew to her chest—whatever irritation she had felt had been replaced with surprise. Thank goodness! Uma had far better eyes than she took her for! “No, no, no! He didn’t do anything. But Uma! Now I can rest easy knowing you can discern people!”.

The Tenebraen gave her deadpan stare at the joking answer. Well, this was a good time to get her up to speed about members of the glaive too. The brunette coughed, “Okay, I’ll be serious. He was asking too many questions and acting weirdly towards Luke. Not in a good sense….” She frowned upon remembering Luche’s behaviour. “To be honest, he isn’t the first glaive I would call to help me out…but he’s usually fair. He does act like an ass quite often, but I absolutely didn’t expect him to act like he did today.”.

She made a mental note to keep an eye on Luche for the next few days, just to confirm that this was just hopefully an episode triggered by something else. She was still going to make sure to keep him away from Uma though.

Other than the encounter with Luche that left Noctis uncomfortable and Crowe ranting about his attitude for a good five minutes, the rest of the day progressed peacefully.

* * *

 

Until Uma finished her hot shower, apparently.

She pulled on her clothes at superhuman speed after Noct called for her. Steam billowed out and she looked somewhat grumpily at her charge. “What’s the problem?”

The eight-year old wagged the object of interest in his hand.

“Oh hell,” she covered her face with a palm upon recognising that purse. A perusal through her recent memories brought a flashback of Crowe leaving her purse in Uma’s bag.

_“Here, help me look after this while I pay, alrighty?”._

The hybrid screamed internally after a glimpse into the purse revealed that _yes_ , the other glaive left her personnel card in there.

“You’re meeting Crowe tomorrow, right? You could give it to her then!”. Uma turned her drooping eyes to him.

“That’s impossible, I have to report for wall duty at 7 tomorrow, and she won’t be able to get into the training grounds without her card,” she groaned and flicked out the card-in-question.

It was Noctis’s turn to give her a look of horror. Crowe was going to have to do a week’s worth of extra duty if she turned up at work without her card.

Uma felt the urge to laugh at his expression despite the direness of the situation (For their brunette glaive, at least), settling for a chuckle instead. “Well, I’ll just take the train to her apartment now and pass this to her,” she rubbed his head. “Go to sleep first. This won’t take too long.”.

“Okay,” Uma nodded at her charge’s meek voice. “It’s not like you need to sleep today anyway.”.

 That was true but…did he have to speak like that? Where was Noctis picking up this snark and sarcasm these days?

_“Don’t worry, dear. Kids grow up fast. It won’t be long until your little brother can live on his own.”_ A voice like Claire sounded.

Still, Crowe couldn’t wait for Uma to get over her reluctance of how fast Noctis was growing. 20 minutes later, Uma waited outside the Glaive apartments and dialled Crowe’s number.

Crowe picked up.

“Hello Crowe?” Uma greeted after a while. Crowe was usually the one who spoke first. “You left your purse in my bag, and your glaive card’s there. I’m downstairs if you want it.”.

“Uh, who are you?” the masculine voice at the other end of the line made the hybrid jump.

“Oh sorry! I dialled the wrong number!” she squeaked into the phone and was about to pull it from her ear--.

“Wait! Wait! You’re Tolmao, aren’t you?” the man on the other side of the phone cut in. There was a sound of a shower in the background. “ Crowe’s busy, uh…you could come up. She’ll probably be ready by then.”.

“…”.

The hybrid racked her brains to see if Crowe mentioned a boyfriend.

Reaching Crowe’s floor, the elevator doors opened to reveal an empty corridor—surprisingly quiet given the amount of music and yelling from the ones three floors down. Perhaps Crowe chose the top level for its peace and quiet? After all, like any other military, a substantial part of the Kingsglaive drank and partied, which could lead to some really loud nights--.

Uma didn’t take the next step.

She inhaled slowly, and her eyes widened.

There was a scent that should only belong to the battleground.

No one answered the door as she knocked.

Unfazed, Uma simply opened it to reveal a dark apartment, all of its curtains drawn.

She tried a call. “Crowe?”.

Someone moved; a swift, precise movement that came for her temple.

Uma’s muscles strained as she pushed them to their full capabilities which hadn’t been used for a while. Her limbs strike out in nanoseconds, disarming weapons, parrying attacks. Dodging blasts of electricity.

With the room silent after the last body collapsed in her arms after a well-placed punch, the hybrid groped the wall for a switch and flicked it on.

The first thing she registered was the bodies collapsed on the floor, certainly out of place in the homey apartment. All of them were clad in dark hoodies and trousers, though the heater in the apartment still ran.

The next were the bloodstains. Uma’s heartbeat quickened as she hurried to the bedroom, flinging open the door.

“Crowe,” she breathed as she rushed to the body that had been left on the left corner of the room. Blood seeped from her wounds. The warrior felt along her body, finding round puncture wounds. Bullets.

She ran back to the kitchen, finding a bottle of soda. That would do. She spiked the drink with a dose of the King’s magic, then returned to pour some of the mixture onto Crowe’s injuries, then tipping the rest into the Glaive’s mouth.

The bleeding slowed, but Crowe still needed help. At least, she would survive.

Uma stalked back to the living room quietly where the intruders were still unconscious. She dropped to a crouch and pulled back the hoodie of one of them, recognizing the man’s face.

An inspection of the second man revealed the same.

The hybrid felt her heart pound as the implications set in. She had always expected a mole of some form after hearing Endre’s story, but this _network_ may be much bigger than she prepared for.

Then her ear twitched as a tiny voice sounded, _“Tredd, come in if you can hear me….Tredd…”._

It didn’t take long to pinpoint its location—the sound came from an earpiece from the red-haired glaive’s ear. Uma placed it into hers, and took a moment to recall the earpiece’s owner’s grating voice that often rang out in the training halls.

“Tredd, come in!” the man on the other side of the earpiece sounded a touch frantic. Uma swallowed after feeling the stretch in her throat as her vocal chords extended.

“Target eliminated,” she growled into the earpiece with Tredd Furia’s voice.

“Good,” the man on the other side seemed relieved, before launching back into a tirade. “Tredd, you have to respond when I tell you to come in! Now, proceed to extract information out of Tolmao. Ask about her ‘little brother’. Use everything at your disposal to get it, and dispose of her once its done.”.

Uma felt an old sense of calm fury wash over her. Kingsglaive she may have been for two months, this was the first time she felt like she was back in the Continent, caught between the power struggle of the Organization and the Awakened Beings.

“Tredd, over and out.”.

With the earpiece placed out of earshot, she made sure the assailants were bound, before entering Crowe’s room to make a phone call.

"You have dialled 000. Do you need the police, fire and rescue or ambulance?".

“Can’t…breathe…two men broke into my house…” she whimpered into the phone. "I got...shot".

“Miss, miss, tell me, where is your location?” the emergency operator questioned, obviously realizing the severity of this call.

“ 701…Kingsglaive apartments…Lucinia street…”.

“Miss, talk to me. I need you to stay awake!” the operator could be heard saying as Uma dropped the phone beside Crowe’s prone form.

She made her way down unnoticed, making sure to keep out of the line of sight of the security cameras. It took less than five minutes for an ambulance to come and load Crowe in. By then, the Crownsguard buzzed with activity around the crime scene.

This should be enough.

Uma turned her back to the scene. She needed to get Noctis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the chapter that has been overdue for 5 months!  
> To be honest, this chapter has in fact, been written since January. However, my family went through some especially trying times, which killed my drive to write for a while...  
> It's been better for a while, though finals are coming soon. I don't know how much time I need before I post the next chapter.  
> To all who have taken the time to read, kudo and comment on this half-written work during this time, thank you so much. They encourage me, or at least, reminded me that I had a work-in-progress that I want to and should finish.  
> On another note, thank you LectorEl for commenting on a part I've forgotten to write in my previous chapter! I thought I had at least given some context on how Uma and Noctis came to Insomnia...but a re-read through chapter 7 after this hiatus revealed that I had actually left that out--my brain is way too proficient at deceiving myself. 
> 
> Yeap, Uma's first experience at crowd control was a culture shock. The population of Insomnia pretty much exceeded the entire population of the Continent in the Claymore 'verse.


End file.
